Dark Legends: Ascension of the Abyssal Champion
by dracohalo117
Summary: After failing the Graduation exams and almost giving up in becoming a Shinobi for Konoha, Naruto finds himself walking a path that he never dreamed of existing...as the Champion of the Abyss itself.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer-I do not own Naruto in any way, shape or form, nor does my partner in writing Hakkyou no Yami...

Oc's and Concepts: The Original characters and concepts of this story were created by Hakkyou no Yami and myself, we worked very hard to create the original characters and the concepts, and we would appreciate that you do not use our Original Characters or our concepts without expressed permission from BOTH of us.

Notice: In case any of you are wondering, or have not noticed this story, along with just about any other story made by myself, and Hakkyou no Yami will be AU, the characters will be OOC, and above all else, we will NOT be following canon. We will extract elements FROM canon, but we will not be doing a rewrite of the canon storyline.

Our sincerest apologies for a lack of updates, I however am in college and Hakkyou no Yami has problems of his own, so we are hard pressed into updating, in addition to other random problems that randomly come up.

Please check out both mine and Hakkyou no Yami's forums, the links to both are on my profile near the top. Also please check out both of our profile pages.

Also, please check out the following

Hakkyou no Yami-Tales of Destiny: Rebirth of the Genesis

Hakkyou no Yami-Eternal Legends: Rebirth of the Second Onslaught

Mystic 6 Tailed Naruto- Rage of the Tormentor

Mystic 6 Tailed Naruto-Dark Legends: Wrath of the Demon King

Mystic 6 Tailed Naruto-Various challenges

TheDemonKingNaruto: Naruto: Rise of Hellwing Naruto

Lord of Daemons: Eye of the storm

Lord of Daemons: Naruto: Strange Aeons

Attention-Important Notice

1. The pairings will be slightly different than the original version, also, do not suggest any pairings as they have already been decided, and do not bother asking what the pairings are ahead of time as we will NOT be giving spoilers.

2. Naruto will be FAR more powerful than he was in the original version of this story. Before any of you complain however, examine exactly WHAT Naruto is, and see WHY he is going to be so damn powerful. Fret not, as he will receive challenges, but they simply will not be what the challenges were in the original story.

3. There have been slight plot changes from the events that happened in the original version. Some events will still occur, some events will not occur, however the events that will remain shall be different than the original version.

4. In case any of you are wondering, or have not noticed, like in the first version, this story, along with just about any other story made by myself, and Hakkyou no Yami will be AU, he characters will be OOC, and above all else, we will NOT be following canon. We will extract elements FROM canon, but we will not be doing a rewrite of the canon storyline.

Attention-The following stories are to be rewritten…Hakkyou no Yami and I have reread the stories, and we both feel they need drastic improvements.

Calamity of the Frozen Storms

Demonic Legends: Rise of the Inugami

* * *

><p>A figure stumbled through the trees, their form coated with dirt, mud, and little bits of leaves and what appeared to be a bit of blood. The figures apparel was that of an orange jumpsuit which had stains of paint, and what appeared to other pieces of cloth that had been sewn onto it in a haphazard manner, clearly an attempt to lessen the brightness of the outfit they were wearing, a hopeless attempt. The figure was a male, no older than twelve years old by the amounts of baby fat on his body, and by his general height, which even seemed a bit short for one his age. His face was rounded, and he had a skin tone which was a light tan. His face was framed by short golden blond bangs, with the rest of his golden blond hair spiking up all over the place, and he had piercing cerulean blue eyes…his cheeks however, had three whisker marks on each side, six whisker marks in total, and they did not look like they were painted on, they looked more like they were a part of the skin itself.<p>

The figure's name was Naruto Uzumaki, an academy student in the village of Konohagakure no Sato.

Or as he often referred it to…his eternal prison…

Naruto had lived a life which was nothing short of torture. His life was such a misery, that the most sick, twisted, and low life of child rapists would never be condemned to such a horrible existence, as it would have been deemed far too cruel a punishment.

Yet he had to suffer that existence for the last twelve years of his life, for a reason he himself did not know of.

Grunting to himself, Naruto walked towards a small pond that was close by, and reached into his pocket to pull out a small canteen. When he reached the pond, he placed the canteen on the ground beside him, and then leaned down and cupped his hands in the water, then brought the water to his face, greedily drinking it up. The cold and fresh water touching his lips was refreshing for him.

He did this a few more times before he reached for his canteen and stuck it in the water, allowing it to fill up. After he filled it up, he drank down a bit of it, before he dunked it back into the water, hoping that the water would last him the day.

He inwardly snorted at that baseless hope, 'With all the training they only make ME go through, I will be lucky if this last until noon.'

Sighing and looking in the direction of the sun, he saw its position in the sky and sighed, he would have to leave when the sun reached the tree on the other side of the field.

He was incredibly smart when it came to practical skills; however, the academy only cared for literacy and random facts which were absolutely useless to a Shinobi.

Then again, that little fact just may help him today.

To be truthful, he had never wanted to be a shinobi, he had never wanted to bind himself to the village, however, extenuating circumstances forced his hand. He had been kicked out of the orphanage, and had been stuck on the streets. He was often beaten by civilians, and shinobi alike, only by sheer luck and circumstance, he was saved from death either by passing shinobi who stopped the beatings, or they were unable to finish the job, and was rushed to the hospital fast enough to keep him alive. Somehow, he healed through all of this, he managed to survive it all…but he was tired of it. He was tired of being defenseless in the face of these bastards, he was tired of being attacked and beaten, so he joined the academy for the sole purpose of learning to defend himself from the ones that attacked him.

Sadly, they focused more on literacy and academics…however, he had to suffer through all of that to learn how to fight and defend himself. However, what they taught in the academy wasn't enough to defend himself, what he needed to defend himself could only be taught by a sensei, and he could not get a sensei without graduating the academy and becoming a Genin, and that was another serious issue. If he graduated and became a Genin, he would be forced to serve this village, and the only escape from there was to become a missing-nin, and be hunted by hunter-nin for the rest of his life…however, he was left with few other options.

Today would be his third attempt at passing the exams…he can thank the civilians for keeping him from passing the last two times.

On the days of the exams, he had been attacked, and mobbed by the civilians, and beaten to the point he could not even walk, causing him to miss the exams, and have to take another whole year of the academy, just so he could take the exams…this has happened twice.

Taking a deep breath, he sighed and looked up at the sky. It was just about time for him to head to the academy. He only hoped that this time, he was not mobbed by those damn civilians.

Taking his canteen and stuffing it in his pocket, he began his trek to the academy.

However, he did make it halfway across the field, before he had to jump back in shock as suddenly out of nowhere in a flurry of leaves, an ANBU appeared directly in front of him.

The ANBU seemed to stare outward, "Naruto Uzumaki, by order of the Sandaime, I am here to escort you to the academy so as to prevent you being unable to attend the final graduation exam due to the attacks caused by the villagers of Konohagakure."

Naruto frowned, "Look, I can walk to the academy by myself; I don't need an ANBU to walk me to school." Naruto tried to go around to ANBU, only for the ANBU to grab his shoulder.

"I never said we would be walking there."

Before Naruto could say anything, the ANBU performed a hand sign, and the two of them vanished in a Shunshin.

Konohagakure Academy

The Konohagakure Academy where children began their lives to become soldiers dedicated towards Konoha's protection. The schoolyard was bustling with children left and right as they either headed towards the classrooms or began conversing with friends and classmates.

Just outside the walls of the academy, in a swirl of leaves, the ANBU and Naruto suddenly appeared.

Naruto stumbled for a second, and then glared up at the ANBU.

The ANBU paid Naruto no mind as they vanished in the same Shunshin.

Naruto frowned and looked to the side, and sighed, 'Well, at least I don't have to worry about a damn mob attacking me this time.' he began to walk through the gates of the academy walls.

As he walked through, the ones that saw him became silent. It was not long before them, and others began to whisper amongst themselves.

'_Hey, isn't that the dobe? I can't believe he actually showed up.'_

'_Yeah, last year he didn't even show up.'_

'_Yeah, I heard about that, he said he was injured.'_

'_Yeah, probably because he was doing something stupid as usual.'_

The kids began to laugh as they continued to talk shit about him behind his back. Not like he really cared, he had long since grown used to it, and long since stopped caring what they said about him.

Without looking back at them, he continued his trek towards the academy buildings entrance.

"Hey dobe!"

Naruto stopped as suddenly, a few civilian kids began to surround him, not allowing him to pass.

He turned around to see Kiba Inuzuka grinning with a white puppy on his head, his apparent ninken Akamaru.

Naruto frowned, while Kiba chuckled, "So, you actually decided to show up this year? I'm surprised. I heard that you didn't show up last year, or the year before. Made the excuse that you were too hurt to even come to class, yeah right, you probably decided to just goof off like you always do you stupid fucker."

Shaking his head and sighing he looked up at the academy and began to head towards the school entrance.

Kiba sneered, "Hey you worthless shit! I'm talking to you!"

Two of the civilian boys pushed Naruto as he tried to walk past them; he stumbled, and glared at them.

Kiba sneered, "You would do best to listen to your betters! Especially since everyone else is better than you." he grinned cruelly, "Then again, what would anyone expect from a no-name, motherless shit of an orphan!"

Naruto frowned, and snorted, "Oh please Kiba, I have heard that insult more often than you can count…then again, you can't count that high can you?"

The other kids were silent at this and looked at Kiba, who began to growl and grit his teeth.

Kiba snarled out, "Watch yourself dobe, I might 'accidentally' lose my temper."

Naruto frowned, and snorted, "Why should I be worried about somebody like you?"

Kiba growled, "Because I am a somebody, the heir to the Inuzuka clan!"

The group was silent as more kids gathered around to watch the group.

Naruto snorted, "Oh, so that's why you can't come up with anything intelligent to say. You do after all come from a family of inbreds. I wonder which one of your uncles your mother fucked to produce you Kiba." he turned and pushed passed the two civilian kids, who were too shocked to say anything.

Kiba was silent, his mouth agape…until his eyes became slitted as he charged screaming, "You fucking bastard!" he charged at Naruto, knocking him over before he leapt onto him and began to brutally punch him in the face.

The other kids were cheering Kiba on as he began to pummel Naruto.

Kiba grinned and started to get him so he could start kicking him.

Naruto used that moment to deliver a hard kick to the side of Kiba's knee.

"AGHHH!" Kiba screamed in pain as he clutched his knee.

Naruto swiftly got up and delivered a punch to his chin, before kicking him square in the chest, causing him to fall onto his back after he was launched back about a good five feet.

Kiba growled as he looked up, "Akamaru, get him!"

Out of nowhere, Akamaru leapt out and dug his teeth into Naruto's leg while he was caught unaware.

"AGH!" Naruto cursed as he looked down at the puppy and sneered, "You cheap ass little-" Naruto could not finish as Kiba got back up and slammed into him, attacking him with just as much violence, while Akamaru bit into him, hard.

Naruto managed to gain enough leverage to flip Kiba off him, he smacked Akamaru away, causing the puppy to whimper.

Kiba's eyes widened, "Akamaru!" he looked up at Naruto and sneered, "You'll pay for that!" he reached into his pouch, and pulled out a kunai, and charged at Naruto, the kunai aimed towards Naruto's chest.

Naruto lurched back as Kiba charged at him, he quickly brought up his right arm as he turned so his right side was blocking the strike.

'SQUELCH' the kunai pierced deep into Naruto's flesh, going right through his forearm.

"AGGGHHH!" Naruto cried out in pain as he was then tackled over by Kiba, who then proceeded to hit him again and again.

Finally, Kiba got off him and spat on him, "That'll teach you to mess with your betters!" he turned and began to walk off, with the other civilians following, laughing as they went.

Naruto grunted, and snarled in Kiba's direction as he yanked the kunai out of his arm, cursing as he looked down at the wound.

The large hole in his forearm seemed to hiss as he saw the wound begin to knit shut, as the veins, muscles, and tendons also healed up, while new skin grew over the now healed flesh.

Frowning, he glanced at his other injuries, which began to heal in a similar way.

Sighing, he then looked at the kunai that Kiba had jammed into his forearm when he was unable to fight him on even terms…still coated in his blood. He examined his vague reflection in the blood coated metal, and snorted, and then pocketed the kunai as he continued his trek towards his classroom.

Ten Minutes later, Naruto's Classroom

Naruto finally arrived at his classroom after having to deal with about half a dozen other students who thought it would be funny to single him out and treat him like shit. Not like he cared though, as far as he was concerned, they did not matter to him at all.

He arrived at the classroom, which was bustling with the students talking amongst themselves as they were fantasizing how being a Shinobi was a dream come true.

Frowning, he entered the classroom and sat in his usual seat, and looked around at the other students who were going to be taking the exam today.

As he looked around though, he turned his head in the direction of the doorway as it began to open.

He sighed in annoyance as the form of Sasuke Uchiha walked into the classroom.

The lone Uchiha survivor had a stoic frown on his face, and he looked around the classroom for an apparent seat. His eyes landed on a seat directly next to Naruto. He walked down the stairs and swiftly took the seat.

Naruto could not help but glare at the Uchiha as he looked around, and saw the angered looks of several girls in the classroom.

Naruto snorted and looked away, not wanting to deal with some delusional self-absorbed fan gi-

"OUT OF MY WAY NARUTO-BAKA!"

Before Naruto noticed, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka had grabbed onto his shoulders and yanked/shoved him out of his chair, and began to fight over the seat they had just ripped him out of.

As Naruto was shoved out of the chair, he lost his balance due to the sudden movement, causing him to be driven headfirst into the corner of a desk, sending an incredibly sharp shot of pain as a trail of blood began to flow from the open wound on his head.

Sakura and Ino began to yank at each other's hair as they continued screaming at each other, "Back of forehead! It's mine!"

Sakura glared as she grabbed Ino's hair, "No, it's mine! Fuck you Ino-pig!"

As the two continued arguing, Naruto pushed himself up…and glared hatefully at the two of them, snarling as he reached into his pouch for the kunai.

Just as he was about to rip the kunai out, the doors to the classroom opened, revealing the forms of Iruka and Mizuki.

Iruka frowned and snapped, "Alright, everybody get in your seats, now!"

Naruto glared in Mizuki's direction, and frowned as he glanced back at Ino and Sakura as they continued to fight over his chair, all because the last Uchiha was sitting right next to said seat. He could not help snorting as he turned away and sat elsewhere, if they wanted to sit next to the 'prodigy' Uchiha, then by all means.

Iruka and Mizuki meanwhile walked to the front of the room, and Iruka cleared his throat, "Today is the day of which will change your lives forever. Today is the day where you will all be tested, and judged to see who among you is qualified to become Genin of the village of Konohagakure no Sato."

The students whooped and hollered happily as they heard this.

Iruka raised his hand to quiet them, "However, you will all need to pass the tests given to you at a marginal level, if your score is too low, then you will not be allowed to go on to become Genin of the leaf."

This silenced the room for a second, before hushed whispers resounded throughout the classroom.

Naruto frowned and grit his teeth a bit, this did not bode well for him, he only hoped he got enough scores in the right place in order to pass, students were not allowed to retake the academy after the third failure.

As Iruka finished, Mizuki walked over to the pile of papers and lifted them, and began to walk around the room, passing a sheet of paper to every student.

As Mizuki got closer to Naruto though, a small smirk graced his features as a sheet of paper slipped into the pile with a slight of hand.

When he got to Naruto's desk, he gave a smile before placing a sheet on the table in front of the blond.

As he walked away, he could not help but smirk cruelly before he quickly hid it and finished passing out the sheets.

When Mizuki finished, Iruka spoke, "Alright everyone, the test will begin…now."

At the moment of Iruka's proclamation, students quickly began to scribble answers on the papers.

Naruto frowned and looked down at the paper, and read the first question…

'_Date of Konohagakure's founding'_

Naruto frowned at this question, _'When is this ever going to be useful to me?'_ he sighed in annoyance and shook his head, then began to scribble the answer on the sheet.

Mizuki caught this in the corner of his eye, and grinned as a cruel glint entered his eye.

Time-skip, one hour

Everyone had finished with the test and passed it in, once Iruka had sorted the papers, he looked up at them, "Alright, I want everyone to follow me; we will be heading out to the training field for our next portion of the exam." Iruka stood up and began to head to the exit, followed closely by the students.

Naruto followed after the other students as they headed outside.

Mizuki meanwhile followed behind, a glint in his eye as he carried out a crate for this part of the exam.

After everyone had exited the building, they had been directed to one of the training fields, which had been altered for the examination.

Iruka spoke up once more, "Alright, the next portion of the exam will be demonstrating your skill in throwing weapons. You will each be given five kunai, and five shuriken for each arm, you must show proficiency in this area of becoming a Shinobi, as in the future your very life may depend on your accuracy with a shuriken. Now I will call each of you out in alphabetical order, and you will then be presented your shuriken and kunai." he looked at the clipboard and called out the first name.

Naruto meanwhile watched as the students began to throw their kunai, most of them missing the targets, with only a few of them even having the capability to get the kunai to dig into the target, and even less even showed any accuracy with the kunai. With the shuriken it was even worse, even more of the students missed the targets, and even fewer managed to get the shuriken to even dig into the target, so far only a handful were accurate enough to get the shuriken to hit the target, AND make them stick into the target.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto was broken from his thoughts as he was called up, and he looked towards Iruka.

Iruka coughed, "Naruto Uzumaki, would you please come up and perform the designated action?"

Naruto sighed and walked up to the table to grab his kunai and shuriken.

Mizuki meanwhile was smirking as he flexed his fingers a bit.

Naruto grabbed onto the kunai and shuriken, and prepared himself in a stance. Meanwhile, Mizuki frowned a bit as he glanced down at his fingers as he continued to flex them.

Naruto took a breath and tossed the kunai towards the target. As he moved his hands, his body subconsciously drew upon his muscle memory from months of training, months of practice, trial and error. The kunai soared through the air with precision and force…hitting the bull's-eye of the training post.

The entire class was shocked by this as they began to whisper amongst themselves, in awe of what they had just seen happen. The dobe had gotten a bull's-eye on his first try. Several others in the class however were whispering about 'beginners luck' or 'cheating'.

Naruto paid them no mind as he grasped another kunai, and tossed it at the post. Hitting just outside of the innermost ring of the target.

As Mizuki saw this, he cursed inwardly…his fingers flexed quicker and cracked as he moved them.

Naruto meanwhile was throwing his third kunai.

Mizuki flexed his hand once more.

Naruto threw the kunai…causing it to miss the target entirely.

The class erupted in laughter as they began to shamelessly mock him.

'_What a loser.'_

'_I knew it was a fluke.'_

'_As if he could be any good on purpose.'_

Naruto frowned in annoyance, and hurled his last two kunai, which ended in the exact same result.

Iruka sighed and watched as Naruto continued to miss with the kunai, marking down each miss.

Mizuki meanwhile was giddy, barely hiding it from his students, and from the currently preoccupied Mizuki.

Naruto grit his teeth a bit as he began the shuriken portion.

Mizuki grinned and began to flex his fingers…however, his eyes were suddenly filled with panic as he looked down at his fingers, and frowned, _'Damn it…'_ he frowned as he looked up at Naruto, who began to perform well again. Snarling inwardly, he began to flex and crack his fingers again.

Iruka nodded his head in approval as he saw Naruto continue to hit the target in a coordinated fashion. He smiled as he continued to give high marks for this portion towards Naruto.

Mizuki kept frowning as his fingers continued to move, Naruto was on his last three shuriken, and had begun to reach for the first of the three. Mizuki cursed inwardly again, only for a smirk to momentarily appear on his face as his fingers flexed once more.

Naruto threw the shuriken, which missed the target entirely.

The chorus of laughter erupted once more as Iruka sighed as he placed a bad mark on Naruto's sheet.

Cursing, Naruto grabbed the last two shuriken and threw them, they both missed with even worse accuracy than the first one.

Iruka sighed, "Naruto, you're done." he finished writing down the marks, and sighed as he called up the next person.

Naruto cursed and got out of the way as the next person walked up, all the while, Mizuki smirked as he looked at his fingers.

After the last student had finished with the throwing weapons, they headed inside for the next portion of the exam. Once each student was again seated, Iruka spoke up, "Now is the final portion of the exam, you will each perform the three basic academy jutsu, the Kawarimi, Henge, and Bunshin. After examining your scores for the written portion of the exam, and your scores for the throwing weapons, and adding in the scores you receive from the ninjutsu portion, you will be graded, and depending on your score, become a Genin of Konohagakure no Sato."

There was a chorus of cheers amongst the students, while a few remained silent, simply waiting for the exam to begin.

Meanwhile, Mizuki walked over to the pile of papers…and smirked as he saw Naruto's on top. Looking around briefly, he grinned as he looked at the paper.

And the ink upon it began to fade away, becoming as blank as it was when it was passed out, all except for Naruto's name.

Mizuki smirked briefly, before he grabbed the stack of papers and passed them to Iruka.

Iruka smiled, "Thank you Mizuki." and he began to grade the papers…upon coming to Naruto's name however, he sighed, "Why does he do this?"

Mizuki shrugged, "I don't know Iruka."

Iruka sighed and finished grading the papers, "Alright, I will call you into the other room where you will display your capability in the three academy ninjutsu." Iruka stood up and entered the room as he called the first student.

For what felt like hours, Naruto waited for it to be his time to perform the techniques so he could finally pass this exam, and go on to further his capabilities, so he would never be defenseless again.

After what felt like another hour, Iruka walked out of the room with a gleeful student who was happily and proudly wearing their headband, "Alright Naruto, it is your turn."

Naruto could not help but smirk as he got up and walked down the aisle towards Iruka as he held the door open. When he entered the room, he looked around; the room was rather large, larger than the classroom which the students were situated. He was inwardly curious as to why this room was left bare.

"Naruto!" Iruka snapped as he saw Naruto look around the room. Naruto quickly turned towards him as Iruka sighed, "I will be very frank with you Naruto, your possibilities towards graduation are not looking very good. If you fail to do any of the required ninjutsu, then you will automatically fail, and since this is your third time, you will not be allowed to reenter the academy."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit…before they narrowed a bit as he lightly growled out, "Transparently clear…sensei."

Iruka nodded his head, "Good, now, I want you to perform a Kawarimi with the chair directly to your left."

Naruto turned his head to the left, and looked at the chair. He nodded his head and performed the hand signs for the kawarimi. In a brief puff of smoke, Naruto and the chair's positions were switched.

Iruka nodded his head, "Good, very good. Now, I need for you to perform the Henge, and transform into either Mizuki or myself."

Naruto nodded his head, and performed a series of hand signs. A cloud of smoke appeared around him as his chakra poured out of his body. Iruka and Mizuki watched as the cloud dissipated, revealing that Naruto had transformed into Iruka.

Iruka smiled, "Good, now all that is left is the Bunshin."

Naruto nodded his head, and began to perform hand signs as he began to mold his chakra.

Mizuki frowned, but smirked as his fingers traced the underside of the desk. In a single spark, a bolt of chakra traveled underneath the desk, and arced all along the floor, before seemingly melding with the wood as it traveled closer to Naruto, right as he performed the technique.

"Bunshin no jutsu" Naruto spoke out the technique as he completed molding his chakra, and two puffs of smoke appeared beside him.

Iruka leaned in closer as the clouds of smoke began to dissipate.

Only to reveal two poorly formed clones.

Iruka sighed and looked at Naruto, "I am sorry Naruto, but you fail." he stood up and walked towards the door, past Naruto, who was looking at the ground, his eyes agape in shock.

He had done everything right, down to the formation of the chakra, all the way to how to manifest the Bunshin, just last night he had successfully performed this jutsu.

He could not believe it…all his hard work, for nothing.

Iruka looked back at Naruto, "Naruto, we need to make room for the next student, you need to leave."

Naruto was momentarily broken out of his trance, long enough for him to acknowledge Iruka and walk out of the room.

As he exited the room, Mizuki grinned inwardly, _'All according to plan.'_

Time-skip

Naruto had exited the academy, walked onto the nearby field just next to the academy building, and sat upon a bench just bordering the field.

His head lowered, he looked at his fingertips, his eyes glazed over in thought as his hair hid his facial expression.

What had happened? What could have possibly happened that would have caused him to fail? For weeks he had done nothing but train in the academy ninjutsu, he had passed out in the forest night after night from training so hard, woken only by the sun's rays hitting his face as he laid in the dirt after passing out from exhaustion.

He had done the Kawarimi perfectly, to the point he could switch places with a twig that was many meters away, he could do it efficiently enough that he barely needed to do the hand signs anymore.

Then there was the Henge, he had practiced it well over two months because he constantly had to train himself for different sizes, shapes, and figures. He knew that if he needed to use the jutsu outside of Konoha, he could not simply use Iruka's height, figure, and body shape if he wanted to impersonate a bandit, a civilian, or if need be a nobleman.

And finally the Bunshin jutsu, a useless jutsu as far as he was concerned, it was just a worthless illusion that did nothing but distract civilians, and maybe bandits, but against a true Shinobi it had no use other than to weaken the one who used it, even if it was only by a small margin, but even still, he had been able to master the jutsu after three months of training with it.

Yet he had failed…and there was nothing he could do to change it.

His best chance of becoming stronger, to become powerful, to never be defenseless again, it was now gone.

"Hey Naruto."

Naruto was broken from his thoughts as he looked up, and saw the smiling face of Mizuki.

Naruto frowned and looked back down, "What is it Mizuki?"

Mizuki smiled and chuckled, "Now, now Naruto, is that any way to speak to your sensei?"

Naruto scoffed, "I failed the exam three times Mizuki, I am no longer considered a student Mizuki, so you are hardly my sensei."

Mizuki frowned and sighed, and turned away, "It's a shame."

Naruto snorted, "What is?"

Mizuki sighed and began to rub his forehead in response, "The fact that you were considered 'failed' the first two times you took the exams, just because you were too injured to come in. And now because of that technicality, you are not allowed to reenter the academy to try the exam next year. And now, so many people will remember you as the dead last los-"

Naruto snapped, "Is there a point to this conversation other than rubbing salt into a gaping wound Mizuki?" Naruto snarled out, glaring heatedly at him.

Mizuki stared at Naruto, and coughed, "Uhm…anyways. I am just trying to say that it is unfair that you are unable to become a Shinobi because of a technicality…so, I am going to offer you a second chance."

…

…

…

Naruto's eyes widened a bit, and he looked up at Mizuki, his eyes filled with curiosity and wariness. But his eyes quickly narrowed, this opportunity seemed too good to be true, "What are you talking about Mizuki?"

Mizuki smiled, "It is a special test, one that tests all your skills as a Shinobi in a realistic setting, one that can bring about all the skills you have learned, and apply them all in a setting which they will be useful. After all, you can't exactly draw upon all your skills in a controlled classroom setting; much less see if they are up to par with what is expected of a Shinobi right?"

Naruto gave him no answer, only staring at him with his still narrowed eyes.

Mizuki continued, "However, if you fail this…well, the consequences will be dire." he smiled at Naruto, "So, what do you say Naruto? Want to take one last shot at this?" Mizuki smiled that usual sweet smile at Naruto, awaiting his response.

Naruto looked down at his feet as he processed what he had been told. He had the chance to take this exam, become a Shinobi…become strong, become powerful.

He would never be defenseless again.

His desires were screaming at him to take this chance, to take the opportunity to become stronger…but another part of him was screaming something else, something far quieter, yet it spoke to him more than the other voice in his head.

Why waste his life in a village that despises him, all for the chance to get stronger, a chance which may never happen.

Even if he became a Shinobi, there was no guarantee they would teach him anything. He saw the looks Shinobi gave him left and right, those hateful glares, those twisted whispers on how he should just crawl into a pit and die, how he is undeserving.

Why waste his life in a village that will never give him a chance?

Naruto clenched his fingers and spoke, "No…I will not."

…

…

…

Mizuki was shocked beyond reasoning, he could not help but stutter as he tried to speak, "B-but, this is a one-time opportunity, you would be able to-"

Naruto turned towards Mizuki and snapped, "No! I am done with this village, I am done with being constantly set back no matter how hard I try to move forward." Naruto snorted, "If Konoha will not let me become strong within its walls, then I will have to leave its walls so that I can gain strength." he turned away from Mizuki and walked away, "You can take your 'second chance' Mizuki…I got my own." he exited the academy field as he headed towards the exit of the academy grounds, leaving the stunned Mizuki standing in front of the bench.

After a minute, Mizuki's face scrunched up into an angry scowl, "Damn it!" he cursed underneath his breath, and he frowned as he looked up at the Hokage Tower.

'_Looks like I am going to have to do this myself.'_ he snorted and began to head back to the academy as the students began to pile out of the academy as simultaneously, their parents and loved ones began to pour into the academy grounds, _'Years of sabotaging that demon brat, and it all goes to waste.'_ he sighed and looked back towards the tower briefly, a wry smirk appearing on his face, _'Oh well…'_ he headed into the academy towards his office, his plans swirling about in his mind.

With Naruto

As soon as Naruto exited the academy grounds, he made a beeline for his apartment complex, not stopping for anything, not stopping to hear the whispers of the populace around him. He passed through the business district of Konoha, passing by shops and restaurants and the likes.

As he passed through, he passed the now withered husk of what used to the Ichiraku Ramen stand.

For a time, it was the only store in the area that would sell to Naruto at a decent price, and for a while, Naruto went there every day just so he would have something to eat.

However, it was not long before the village turned them against him, he had been chased out of the store after a while…however, they had already doomed themselves. Because they had served him, nobody in the village ever went there, and they were forced to close up shop. They likely had left the village to find business elsewhere.

Naruto continued on his path towards the apartment, moving through the districts one by one, until he finally entered the district he lived in.

His apartment complex was located in the middle of the area bordering the slums and the residential district. It was not the best place to live, but neither was it the worst. The streets were filthy, lined with trash; the streets had bums and prostitutes lining the alleys, with some common civilians and a few shinobi walking along the sides of the road.

Naruto scowled as he looked at this place…this was the place he had been forced to live in for the last decade at least, ever since he was thrown out of the orphanage as a child. After he had been entered into the academy, this was the place that he had been shoved into, while so many other orphans in similar positions were given much better quality homes.

Naruto scoffed and looked up as he finally arrived at his apartment complex, _'After today, none of that will matter anymore.'_ he quickly headed upstairs and headed towards his apartment. He unlocked the door and walked inside.

The apartment was an absolute mess, from his own lack of initiative to clean it, as well as the vandals who kept breaking into his apartment and trashing his stuff. The furniture destroyed, the walls covered in graffiti and large holes in the wall. At first, Naruto would try to repair what damage he could, but after a while, he simply stopped caring whether they destroyed his apartment or not.

Pushing aside some junk, he searched around, looking at the floor, until a small smirk came to his lips. He leaned down and stuck his nails between the floorboards, and lifted up a small panel.

Inside were some minor essentials, money, non-perishable food, some containers, anything he would find useful on a mission. He had placed the materials there for when he went on a mission; however, it seemed he would not be using them for their intended purpose.

Quickly gathering up the containers, money, non-perishables, and the small map of Hi no Kuni he had managed to sneak out of a shop some months ago, he then stuff them into his bag.

Smirking in satisfaction, he looked out the window to see the sun setting.

Sighing, he stood up and exited the apartment complex, and began to head towards one of the village exits…

Hokage Tower

Sitting at his desk, examining the files showing the newly graduated academy students was the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

As his eyes gazed at the list of new graduates, a disappointed sigh escaped his lips.

Naruto Uzumaki had failed to pass the exam…and because it was his third failure, he could not retake the exams.

Hiruzen sighed heavily as he began to rub his temples, _'I had hoped I would not have to resort to this.'_ taking a deep breath, he then pressed a button underneath his desk and spoke into a microphone on his desk, "Aid, please send for my ANBU, I have an assignment for them, tell them it is urgent."

He released the button, and there was a hissing sound coming from the speaker, until a woman's voice spoke up, _"Yes Sandaime-sama."_

Hiruzen sighed and leaned back in his chair, and looked up at the ceiling.

He knew that after this, the council was going to give him hell like no other, but he refused to let years of planning be wasted all because of technicalities.

'Knock…knock…'

Hiruzen turned towards the door, and coughed as he sat straight in his seat, "Enter."

The door opened, and three ANBU entered the room. They formed a single line facing the Sandaime, and saluted, "Reporting as requested Sandaime-sama."

Hiruzen nodded, "Yes, good." he coughed slightly, and leaned forward, "I wish for you three to locate Naruto Uzumaki and bring him here, I have to discuss something important with him."

The ANBU stood still, and then saluted, "As you command Sandaime-sama."

Hiruzen smiled, "Good." he then waved his hand to dismiss them.

After they exited his office, he sighed heavily and leaned further back in his chair, groaning. He had been sitting in that chair for far too long, he should probably move around a little bit. His eyes landed on a stack of papers which he had forgotten to bring to the receptionist, _'Why not? After all, until Naruto gets here I am not doing much else.'_ he stood up and grabbed the stack of papers, and exited his office and began to walk down the hallway towards the receptionist.

Had he stayed but a minute longer, he would have been able to sense the single Shinobi as he used a seal dispelling technique to remove the seals on his windows, before quickly slipping in, and heading directly towards the door just parallel to the Hokage's desk.

Not wasting a moment, the Shinobi quickly picked the locks on the door after carefully and swiftly removing the seals on the door. After ensuring there were no other hidden traps on the door, he opened it, revealing its contents.

Behind the door was a large room, covered in shelves, filled with boxes, scrolls, and texts…though the Shinobi walked past all this, and smirked as they saw their prize.

A large chest, rectangular in form, locked and sealed tightly.

As he reached forward to begin opening the safe however, he heard footsteps heading towards the office. In a panic, the Shinobi simply grabbed the safe, and headed towards the still open window, and quickly leapt out as the Shinobi fastened the safe onto their back.

Not more than a few seconds after the Shinobi had escaped from the office, did the Sandaime reenter his office.

The Sandaime was about to head to his desk, when he noticed the door wide open, along with the window.

His eyes widening with terror, he ran to the door and looked inside…his eyes were filled with fear once more. He ran to his desk and hit the button underneath it, "Aid! This is a code red, I repeat a code red! Somebody has just stolen the forbidden scroll. Sound the alarm!"

The Sandaime did not have to wait three seconds to hear the alarm sounding throughout the village, and as he looked out the window, he saw the forms of his Shinobi leaping into action.

Naruto

Naruto had headed through the forests in Konoha so as to avoid any civilians or Shinobi who were walking around in the middle of the night, the bonus to this was that it cut back the time he needed to spend in the village by a relatively good margin.

He stopped however when he heard the alarms ringing from the village.

He absent mindedly wondered why they were sounding the alarm as he continued on his path. Whatever it was though, it no longer involved him, because after today, he would never look back at this village as he embraced his new life.

Or so he believed.

Mizuki

Cursing, Mizuki increased his speed as he heard the alarms. He should have had a backup strategy just in case this had happened. Unfortunately since his original plan had gone down the drain, he had to improvise as best as he could.

As Mizuki stopped on a tree branch, to catch his breath, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small map of Konohagakure. Covering the map were small lines, circles, and other things which had been added.

As he examined the map, he was unaware of the chakra presence coming from right behind him.

"Mizuki!"

Mizuki nearly jumped as he turned around, and saw the face of Iruka.

Iruka's eyes were wide, and then he spoke with a harsh tone in his voice, "Mizuki! What do you think you are doing?"

Mizuki snarled at Iruka, "I don't have time to deal with you!" Mizuki began to jump away through the trees. Iruka wasted not more than a second as he began to chase after him.

Iruka threw a volley of kunai towards Mizuki, who managed to dodge them as he threw a volley of his own kunai towards Iruka. Iruka dodged them as best as he could, though a single kunai managed to nick his cheek.

Mizuki grinned and turned and continued to speed away from Iruka, the chest still fastened to his back.

Iruka continued after Mizuki, and drew out several shuriken and kunai. He shot more chakra into his feet as he used every muscle in his legs to launch himself towards Mizuki. With as much precision as he could manage, he threw the kunai and Shuriken one after another directly at the traitorous Chunin.

The kunai and shuriken sailed through the air, heading directly towards Mizuki.

Mizuki heard them sailing through the air just in time for him to narrowly avoid several of them puncturing him in vital areas.

With Naruto

Naruto pushed aside some low hanging tree branches as he headed towards the village gates, and was just about to release the branch…

'THWACK' suddenly out of seemingly nowhere, three kunai and two shuriken punctured the tree he was next to, just barely missing him by a foot or so.

He jumped back and released the branch, "What the-"

"AAAGH!"

Naruto looked up as he heard the cry of pain, and he had to jump back as he saw a figure fall from the treetops.

The figure belonged to Mizuki, who had a kunai lodged into his thigh, and two shuriken in his left arm.

Naruto stared in shock, when suddenly Iruka jumped from the trees and landed in front of Mizuki and him. Iruka narrowed his eyes, "Mizuki, of all the despicable things you could have done, this is…the…worst…?" as he began to shout at Mizuki, his eyes landed upon Naruto, who was standing a few feet away from the fallen Mizuki, his eyes filled with shock.

Mizuki grunted and looked up to where Mizuki was staring at…and his eyes narrowed.

Naruto kept staring at them, before he finally spoke, "What the…"

Iruka shouted, "Naruto, get the hell away from here! You are in danger!"

Naruto quirked an eye, "What the hell are you-WHOA!" Naruto managed to evade a kunai that been thrown in his direction, thrown by the wounded Mizuki.

Mizuki sneered as he got up and reached for a second kunai.

Iruka jumped into action and blocked Mizuki from getting the second kunai knife. Mizuki had to jump back to evade Iruka's strike, wincing as he tried to move his left arm, the shuriken however were still embedded in it.

Iruka pulled out a kunai and swung at Mizuki. Mizuki was fast enough to counter with his right hand, causing Iruka to stumble away as he ripped the shuriken out of his arm.

Iruka charged again, this time Mizuki countered with a kunai of his own.

Naruto meanwhile was frozen with shock, how in the hell did he end up in this situation, all he wanted to do was head out of the village, that was it. Somehow he is now stuck watching a knife fight between his two sensei's.

Mizuki cursed and clashed his kunai against Iruka's, "You couldn't have just done what you always did and just looked the other way, would you Iruka?"

Iruka cursed; "I will never look the other way when one of my comrade's tries to betray everything we have been taught!" he pushed against Mizuki, who merely scoffed.

"Oh don't give me that bullshit! I know you kept looking the other way when I was sabotaging that fucking demon brat!"

Iruka's eyes widened, and he glanced at Naruto, then back at Mizuki, "What?"

Mizuki snorted, "Don't play dumb just because the demon is watching us, admit it! You knew damn well I was sabotaging him. You are no better than I am Iruka!"

Iruka looked back at Naruto, whose eyes were staring at them.

Mizuki remained silent, then looked between the two, then back at Iruka, "You…you actually didn't know?" he stared at Iruka, and a smirk graced his features, "Hehe…heheha…Hahahhaaa…HAHA! HAAAHAHAAAA! Oh I cannot believe this!" he pushed back at Iruka, and kicked him hard in the chest, "You actually had no idea I was sabotaging that fucking demon?" he said pointing in Naruto's direction.

Iruka got up and cursed.

Mizuki was practically crying from laughter, "Oh I can't fucking believe this, I knew you were naïve, but to not notice something that was right in front of you? Oh come on, I used chakra strings to make his throwing suck! I taught him improper forms, hell I even went so far as to get chakra paper that would absorb any writing he put on the papers, and I even etched seals right underneath the floorboards to keep him from doing the Bunshin properly. Man, I honestly thought you hated the demon so much you just looked the other way, but now I know it is because you are a complete fool!"

Iruka looked down, and clenched his fist, all this time, he had been fooled that Naruto was just a troublemaker, when all this time, Mizuki had been sabotaging him from the beginning.

"HEY!"

Both Iruka and Mizuki looked up towards Naruto's direction.

Naruto's teeth were gritted and his eyes were narrowed, "Are you telling me, that I have spent all this time in the academy, because one of my sensei's decided to sabotage all of my work? And what the fuck are you talking about? Demon?" Naruto's eyes were filled with anger, and confusion.

Mizuki saw this, and smirked, "Oh, you don't know?" he said in a sarcastic, twisted tone, "Then again, why would you know, the law is still in place."

Iruka's eyes widened in horror, "No Mizuki don't!" he ran at Mizuki, trying to stop him.

Mizuki grinned and simply pulled out a kunai, and stabbed at Iruka just as he leapt at him.

Iruka was punctured right in the side of his abdomen, "AAAGGGHH!" and fell to his knees, gritting his teeth in pain.

As Iruka was on the ground in pain, Mizuki smirked, "Oh don't pretend like you care Iruka, we both know it's because of this demon your parents are dead."

Naruto's eyes widened in confusion, and he snapped, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Mizuki smirked, "You know how the Kyuubi was defeated?" Naruto gave him a hardened stare as a response, "How the Yondaime sacrificed his life to destroy the Kyuubi, to end a menace far greater than any we have ever faced in the history of the elemental nations…it was all a lie!"

Naruto's eyes were filled with confusion.

Mizuki continued, "While the Yondaime did sacrifice himself, it was not to destroy the Kyuubi, oh no. No jutsu in existence has the power to kill a demon, much less one of Kyuubi's caliber! No, the Yondaime, he had only a single option…"

Iruka hissed in pain as he tried to move, "No Mizuki don't!"

Iruka's words fell upon deaf ears, Mizuki's eyes were filled with a crazed glint as he shouted, "He had to seal the Kyuubi inside of a living host body! A baby! YOU!"

…

…

…

Naruto's eyes widened until it felt as though his eyelids had fused to his skin, and were rendered incapable of closing, "W-what?"

Mizuki cackled psychotically, "Oh all these years, you were lied to, hated, treated lower than trash could be treated, oh it must have been a nightmare for you!" he said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Naruto lowered his head, it all made sense to him now…the beatings, the neglect, the hate…

All his life, he had wondered, why, why was he hated, treated like a criminal…a murderer…a monster…a demon…

It was because he was the container of the Kyuubi no Yoko…

The container of a demon…

Mizuki chuckled as his eye began to twitch, he reached to his back and pulled out a folded Fuuma Shuriken, "Oh, don't fret Naruto, I'll ease your PAIN!" he snapped the Fuuma Shuriken open, and threw it at Naruto, and screamed like a madman, "Enjoy the pits of hell Kyuubi!"

Iruka tried to stand and stop the shuriken, but he was too injured to move, "NO!"

Naruto snapped out of his trance, and saw the Fuuma shuriken sailing towards him. His eyes seemed to quiver as they widened further, and he was about to move to narrowly avoid the shuriken.

'Clang'

Only for the Shuriken to suddenly veer off course and sail into a tree.

Mizuki's eyes widened, "What! How did-HUURGH!" Mizuki was silenced as a kunai knife was jammed into his throat.

Standing next to him was an ANBU, his mask concealing his visage as he tore the kunai out of Mizuki's throat. As Mizuki fell to the ground, he quickly took the chest from his back, and allowed Mizuki's still bleeding carcass to stain the ground with his blood.

The ANBU was joined by two others, one who had a distinguishing mark that signified him as the commander, "Is the target secure?"

The ANBU who had delivered the killing blow spoke, "The target is secure, and the threat neutralized." he said whilst holding up the chest.

The head ANBU nodded and looked around, he headed towards Iruka and leaned down, he looked up at the other ANBU member, "Get a medic, stat. He is bleeding out badly."

The other ANBU did as requested and quickly used Shunshin to acquire a medic-nin.

Meanwhile, the lead ANBU was using basic medical knowledge to stem the blood flow. Iruka winced as he whimpered out, "N-Naruto…"

The ANBU heard what he said, and turned his attention towards the lone blond, who was still standing in the same spot.

The ANBU whom had executed Mizuki walked up to Naruto, "Naruto-san, I am ordered to-" Naruto paid the ANBU no mind, and began to walk the other direction, "Naruto-san, where are you going? I am ordered to-"

Naruto snapped, "What the hell does it look like? The village gates are in this direction, and after hearing what Mizuki said, it is only solidified my decision."

The ANBU seemed confused, "What decision?"

Naruto turned his head, revealing his cold cerulean blue eyes, "To leave Konohagakure no Sato." he turned away and began to head off.

Naruto had not made it three feet before the ANBU appeared in front of him via a Shunshin. Naruto jumped back a bit before the ANBU grabbed his shoulder, "That is something I cannot allow, I have orders, and there is a standing order to have you brought before Sandaime-sama…immediately."

Naruto could not say a word as the ANBU quickly used Shunshin, just as the other ANBU came back with the medics.

Sandaime's Office

Hiruzen sighed and nodded his head, having received a report from one of his ANBU; apparently the ANBU that had been sent to retrieve the medic had bumped into another ANBU, and had informed them of the successful retrieval of the scroll. The ANBU had quickly reported to the Sandaime, and an immense amount of relief flooded his system.

He swiftly dismissed his ANBU, and sighed heavily, "One issue down…I only hope that Naruto-"

Suddenly, out of nowhere an ANBU used Shunshin to appear in his office…his hand holding the shoulder of Naruto Uzumaki.

Hiruzen was shocked by this, before he shook his head, "Uhm…thank you for retrieving Naruto, you are dismissed."

The ANBU nodded his head and vanished in a Shunshin, leaving Naruto Uzumaki in the office of the Sandaime.

The Sandaime coughed, "Naruto, I am sure you are curious as to why you have been brought before me."

Naruto turned towards the Sandaime and snapped, "Damn right I do! I was on my way to leave Konoha when your ANBU said there was a standing order to have me brought before you!"

Hiruzen's eyes widened. Naruto wanted to leave Konoha?

Hiruzen began to sputter, "W-what? Why would you wish to leave Konoha?"

Naruto was gritting his teeth, his anger welling up within him, "Why would I want to leave this Kami-forsaken village? Why wouldn't I want to leave it is the better question, but since you asked the first one, I'll humor you." he took a deep breath, and spoke, "For as long as I could remember, I have been treated worse than even the worst child rapist, I have been beaten, brutalized, and spat upon by civilian and Shinobi alike, only barely surviving by passing Shinobi managing to get me to the hospital in time to save me, only for those same Shinobi who saved me to be brutalizing me during the next beating! After all this, I chose to become a Shinobi for the sole reason to become strong enough to defend myself when I was attack, but the damn academy only teaches so much in terms of combat and self-defense, and focuses more on literacy than anything else!" Naruto's eyes seemed to dilate as his fists clenched tightly, "I tried three times to graduate the exam to become an official Shinobi of Konohagakure, so that I could become strong, so I could get the training I need to defend myself, to never be defenseless again..." Naruto took a deep breath, and spoke in a cold dead tone, "…but…it seems I can't even be given the right to participate in the exam, the first two times I was beaten to such a bloody pulp that I could barely walk on my own, and even though the reason for me missing the exam was not my fault, it still counted against me, today's exam was my last shot!"

Hiruzen spoke up, desperation clearly in his voice, "I sent an ANBU to escort you so that you would not be attacked this time!"

Naruto spat, "Oh thank you very fucking much '_Sandaime-sama_'." he said with obvious sarcasm in his voice, "That was really helpful; it really helped me a lot…HA! I was set up to fail the moment I walked through those academy doors! My tests were rigged, I failed, I never have another chance to be a Shinobi, and it is because of you!"

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, "Now you listen here, I did not know that your tests were being tampered with!"

Naruto snapped, "Like you did not know I was the container of the Kyuubi no Yoko?"

…

…

…

Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock, "W-who told you that?"

Naruto snorted, "The same person who rigged my tests, Mizuki, and judging by the reaction of Iruka, and you just now, I can only assume that it is true."

Hiruzen cursed, "Naruto, you must understand that I-"

Naruto smashed his fist into the desk, "Understand what? That I was treated like a criminal, a demon, a monster? All because of something that was not my fault, something I had no control of, something that I did not even know about? That begs another question as to why I was never told! You feel like answering that question?"

Hiruzen lowered his head, "It was for the greater good Naruto, you must understand."

Naruto snorted, "And that logic and reasoning is why I am leaving this village…that those less fortunate have to suffer for the benefit of those with more fortune." Naruto turned around and was about to walk to the office door.

Hiruzen stood up, "Naruto, you cannot leave Konoha!"

Naruto turned and looked at him, "Oh, and why is that? I am not a Shinobi of this village, I am a civilian, hell I am not even legally allowed to reenter the academy because of your own laws! Tell me, what possible reason could there be to me staying in this village, tell me?"

Hiruzen gulped and began to speak quickly, "Naruto, being what you are, the seal upon you is affected by your emotions, if you allow your emotions to overcome you, or if you unintentionally will it, you will release the seal, and you will die."

Naruto frowned, "Yet another reason to leave this village, if you, the leader of the village cannot even take the effort to tell me, the container the truth, then why should I stay here? Since you clearly did not care enough to teach me about this seal earlier in my life."

Hiruzen cursed, he had to think of something, "If you leave Konoha, you will be at risk from bandits and Shinobi."

Naruto snorted, "And being at the mercy of the villagers and civilians in my own village is so much better I assume? At least beyond the walls of Konoha, I am not at constant threat of being assaulted by my neighbors."

Hiruzen gulped and continued to speak, "Naruto, please, you wanted to be a Shinobi right? Well, what if I graduated you by my authority as Hokage? You would be able to grow stronger an-"

Naruto did not allow him to finish, "And stick me with a sensei who no doubt hates my guts…" Naruto turned around and headed towards the door.

Hiruzen bit his lip, and clenched his fist…and he spoke with a fierce tone in his voice, "Naruto, the moment you walk beyond the walls of Konohagakure, I will have no choice but to send Hunter-nin after you!"

Naruto stopped as he reached for the door.

Hiruzen continued, "Like it or not Naruto, because of what you are, it is your fate to be a Shinobi of this village!" Hiruzen began to pant from the volume of his shouts.

Naruto made no motion to move, he only stood there, his hand outstretched to grasp the door handle…after a minute, the hand slowly moved to his side.

Hiruzen sighed, "Naruto I-"

"Is that so…Sandaime?" a cold voice echoed from Naruto's position.

Hiruzen seemed to jump at the coldness in Naruto's voice, who then began to slowly turn around, his eyes glaring holes into the Sandaime, his voice colder than frozen steel.

"If that is the case…and if what you say is true…how I could simply will the Kyuubi to escape from its seal." his eyes narrowed, and he sneered, "Why don't I simply release the Kyuubi? Right here…right now?"

…

…

…

Hiruzen began to sweat heavily, his eyes never before filled with such terror. He briefly glanced out at the village, then back at Naruto, "Y-you wouldn't…"

Naruto frowned, and he clenched his fist, "Try me."

Hiruzen shivered as he began to rattle his fingers onto his desk, his mind racing as he tried as hard as he could to think of a solution to this dilemma. He was currently trapped between a rock and a hard place, on one hand, Naruto was the village's greatest asset due to him being what he is, a Jinchuriki, a weapon, a deterrent. Losing him would no doubt open the floodgates for other villages to invade, and they were still recovering from the Kyuubi attack, and the war with Kumo. On another hand, if Naruto wanted to, then the entire village would be annihilated in less than a half an hour at best, especially if the sudden release of the Kyuubi triggered an avalanche on the Hokage Monument, which would speed up Konoha's destruction.

He had only one option left…

Hiruzen wheezed out, "I-I'll make you an offer Naruto."

Naruto frowned, "I don't want to live in this village Sandaime, what could you possibly offer me?"

Hiruzen gulped, "J-just hear me out, please?"

Naruto frowned, and sighed, "What is it you are offering…Sandaime."

Hiruzen gulped, and spoke, "The moment you achieve the rank of Chunin, you will be given travel rights that far exceed the travel rights I myself gave to my students, the Sannin, you can go beyond Konoha, beyond Hi no Kuni, even beyond the Elemental Nations themselves if you wish." he held his hand to his heart while his other was held in the air, "I swear, on my honor as the Clan Head of the Sarutobi, and Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, that even upon my death, this will not change."

Hiruzen was sweating on the inside, he knew this was a long shot, a major long shot, but he had no other options available to him. If he wanted the chance to foster a true loyalty to Konoha within Naruto, then the travel rights will be useless anyways. All he had to do was ensure Naruto's life within Konoha was far better than the life he had been forced to live since his birth.

Naruto frowned and narrowed his eyes, "What is stopping you, or the council from denying me my right to become Chunin, even if I take this offer to begin with?"

Hiruzen bit his lip, "The decision to make you a Chunin does not solely rest upon the governing body of Konoha, it also falls upon Daimyo's, Lords, and other village leaders who come and attend the exam. If you are worried about them being bought out by the council, do not fret, the council does not have enough money combined to bribe the least wealthy of the lords, and all the Daimyo's and Lords desire only the highest quality of Chunin. I will also ensure that the council is unbiased in its decision…and…"he gulped and spoke, "I-I promise on the life of my children and my grandchildren that I will be honest in my part in the decision to make you a Chunin."

Naruto frowned, and watched as Hiruzen quickly began to draw up a document, which he then applied with his seal and signature.

Naruto thought this over, and he had to admit this deal showed promise. In seven months' time, the Chunin exams would begin. If he trained his ass off, he could win the Chunin exams, claim the title of Chunin, and be free of the village forever.

Naruto snarled as a thought came to his mind, "What if I am saddled with a sensei who tries to sabotage me?"

Hiruzen cursed under his breath, and looked at the form.

Taking a deep breath, "T-that will never happen Naruto, I promise you, that if such a thing occurs, then the sensei will be charged at the highest penalty of the law…p-public execution."

Naruto nodded his head, and began to think over the deal once more. The deal so far had all the pros in his favor, with the only con being that he had to obey Konoha's laws, and therefore he could not leave Konoha. But that would all change as soon as he became a Chunin…all he had to do was get the training materials and-

…

…

…

Naruto stopped at that thought…training materials…his parents.

All his life, he had wondered who his parents were, whether they were Shinobi, and if they were, did they leave behind any jutsu, techniques, anything for him? He had often heard how orphans were given their families possessions to train with and learn from if their parents were known.

And with him being the container of Kyuubi, he highly doubted that the Sandaime did not know who his parents were.

Naruto slowly turned his head to Hiruzen, and spoke, "My parents…who were they?"

…Hiruzen seemed to freeze up at the question, and his face seemed to pale a small margin, "I-I…uhm, Naruto, I…"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, he could tell that the Sandaime was trying to avoid the question, "Answer me, right now…" he grit his teeth, "I am not going to ask you again, who are my parents!"

Hiruzen bit his lip…and sighed heavily, "Naruto, I-I don't know how to tell you this-"

Naruto snapped impatiently, "Just tell me the truth, who the hell are my parents?"

Hiruzen flinched, and lowered his head, "Your father is Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato…"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked out the window towards the Hokage monument, and looked at the stone face of the Yondaime.

His own father had been the one to curse him to this hell.

Naruto grit his teeth and turned towards Hiruzen, "And my mother…?"

Hiruzen flinched further and looked away.

Naruto snarled, "Answer me damn it! Who is my mother? And where the hell is she?"

Hiruzen seemed to grip the table tighter, and he spoke, "Naruto…your mother abandoned you the moment she had been told you had become a Jinchuriki, she had wholly believed you were the Kyuubi no Yoko…nothing I said could have persuaded her otherwise." he sighed and looked up at Naruto, "I-I am sorry Naruto, the last I heard from her, she said she had been training your brother and sister to kill you."

…

…

…

Silence reigned throughout the room, as Naruto's teeth seemed to grind against each other, and his fists clenched so tightly that his nails began to cut into his palms.

Hiruzen saw Naruto's condition, "Naruto, I want you to know tha-"

Naruto turned around slowly and quietly, and opened the door. Without uttering a word, or making a sound, he exited the office, leaving the aged Hokage in his office…alone.

As Hiruzen lowered his head into his palms, he was wholly unaware of the events that would unfold this day.

Watched closely by the eyes…of a God.

Elsewhere

Deep in an ancient realm, covered in an endless barren wasteland, layered by thick layers of stone, fire, and the darkness of a realm far more deadly than any place upon the mortal realm.

Deep at the bottom of the ancient cavernous realm, sitting above a lake of crimson waters, a palace, more grand than the finest cities built by the hands of the greatest artisans, and more terrifying than the darkest of nightmares.

In the center of this immense palace, an entity watched events unfold within the mortal world.

As its figure was shrouded by the pillars within its domain, its figure looked into a pool of crimson waters, swirling as it showed the figure what its eyes desired.

The figure seemed to chuckle to itself, and spoke in a voice both regal, and terrifying, _**"At long last, it is time."**_ the figure outstretched its hand, still shrouded by the immense pillars, and in a mere instant, the waters began to shift, swirling faster and faster as the figure chuckled to itself once more.

As the figure walked away, an ethereal energy poured out of the structures surrounding it, and converged into a single point, swirling into a twisting ether as the entity walked forth into the anomaly before it.

As it walked into the anomaly, the figure allowed a wry grin to grace its features.

At long last, the Abyssal God had found his servant on earth…

* * *

><p>Wow, long chapter huh? And it is only chapter one.<p>

You can look forward to future updates of this story, and other stories in the near future...

Until next time, Ja-ne...


	2. Chapter 2

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><p>The aged formed of Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his chair still, his head in his palms as he felt his whole world crashing down on him; with nobody to blame but himself.<p>

He slowly lifted his head and looked to the side of his desk, staring at the document he had written not minutes prior, his seal and signature already applied. His eyes glanced over the document, each word he read making his heart grow ever heavier.

'_As Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, and Clan head of the Sarutobi clan, I hereby decree the following._

_Henceforth, Naruto Uzumaki, shall be treated as a fellow member of the Shinobi corps at all times, as is his irrefutable right. Should this command not be adhered to, those who commit the offense shall be stripped of their rank, and all privileges associated with the rank for no less than one year, and shall he imprisoned for the same length of time. Upon release, they shall be forced to go through a probationary term before they are returned to a subservient position, if there is no subservient position less than what they already had, they shall be sentenced to indentured servitude to a higher standing position of the Hokage's choosing, should the Hokage, be they past, present, or future, ever abuse this right to infringe upon the aforementioned right, the Hokage, and all those involved, shall suffer the loss of their position, permanent removal from their position, and they shall spend no less than ten years in prison. Upon their release from prison, they shall spend the remainder of their lives in indentured servitude to the village in a menial position with no chance to climb higher. _

_Furthermore, Naruto Uzumaki, shall be treated with utmost respect as a student of the assigned Jonin-sensei. Should the Jonin-sensei abuse their power as a sensei, should they attempt to sabotage him in any way, shape or form, they shall be immediately relieved of their position as Jonin, they shall be immediately be relieved of their team, and they shall face the capital punishment of a public execution, no chance for appeals granted under any circumstances. _

_Furthermore, Naruto Uzumaki, upon his entrance into the Chunin Exams, shall not suffer bias at the hands of the Hokage, be they past, present, or future, nor shall he suffer bias at the hands of any party under the Hokage's command, whether the affiliation is direct or indirect. Should he suffer bias at the hands of the Hokage, past, present, or future, or if he suffers bias at the hands of those under the command of the Hokage, past, present, or future, whether the command is direct or indirect, the person or persons who commit the act of bias against him shall be stripped of their position permanently, and imprisoned for the remainder of their lifespan at a minimum, with no chance for parole. Should the actions of those who commit the bias exceed the standard for life imprisonment, they shall instead suffer a public execution with no opportunity for appeals under any circumstances. _

_Furthermore, upon the second Naruto Uzumaki is given the rank of Chunin, he shall be forever more awarded the following rights: he shall be awarded the irrefutable right to leave and return to Konohagakure as he so desires, be it beyond the walls of Konohagakure, beyond the borders of Hi no Kuni, or even beyond the boundaries of the elemental nations. This right is absolute, and shall not be infringed upon by any past, present, or future Hokage's, nor shall this right be infringed by any party under the Hokage's command, whether it be directly, or indirectly. Infringement upon this right shall henceforth be considered a crime punishable by no less than surrendering of all worldly possessions, surrendering of all positions of power, and imprisonment for the remainder of their lifetime. Should their infringement upon the aforementioned right further than the minimum, they shall be subject to execution, no appeals granted under any circumstances. _

Hiruzen read through the contract over and over again, looking at every sentence, every word, every punctuation in the contract, all the while contemplating Naruto's response to the contract. Would there be a portion he wanted adjusted, would there be something he wants added? So many questions whirled about in his mind as he pondered this. If Naruto wanted part of the contract adjusted, that could be good, or bad for Konoha. Then there was the matter of Naruto wanting something added, if he did demand something added, what possible repercussions could that have upon Konoha?

Then there was the council.

There was no doubt in Hiruzen's mind that the council would be firmly against this, no matter what proposal he put forth. Ever since they heard Naruto was the Jinchuriki to the Kyuubi, the same demon which had laid waste to Konoha, killed their kin, and slaughtered their comrades, even the most reasonable of the council turned against the boy, seeing the monster sealed inside of him instead of the boy himself. While over the years, the more sound and rational members of the council saw reason and started to view Naruto as the container instead of the contained, there was still a majority who stood against any proposal made to favor the blond Jinchuriki in any manner.

He sighed heavily, the position he was in was not in the councils favor. Konoha had suffered many setbacks in the past, the Kyuubi's assault upon Konoha, the war with Kumo, the Uchiha Massacre, their forces kept dropping like flies, and there was not enough new blood leaving the academy to make up for the losses, much less those that matched the deceased in skill level.

Konoha needed its Jinchuriki, more than it needed to placate a room full of councilors.

Slowly putting down the contract, he placed his hands on the sides of his chair and slowly began to push himself up.

"Sandaime-sama!" when suddenly, an ANBU charged through the still open door, seemingly out of breath, "Sandaime-sama I have news…"

Hiruzen looked up, frustration and aggravation clearly on his face. Under circumstances such as this, normally he would demand what was wrong to make the ANBU become exhausted just from trying to get to his office, but the events of the day had relieved him of any patience he might have had in this situation, "You had better have a damn good reason for barging into my office unannounced and-"

"Kushina Namikaze has just returned to Konohagakure!"

…

…

…

Hiruzen's eyes snapped wide as they could go so quickly, that the friction caused by them opening left a burning sensation on his eyelids, "What?!"he shot up and stormed around his desk, grabbing onto the ANBU's shoulders, "Kushina Namikaze is back?!"

The ANBU was shocked underneath their mask, "Y-yes. And as per your standing orders to inform you should Kushina Namikaze ever return to Konoha, I came here as fast as I could."

Hiruzen stared at the ANBU for but a moment, before he fully understood what he had heard.

Kushina Namikaze…the same woman who had been training her children to kill her other child for the last few years…

She had returned.

"Shit!" Hiruzen shouted in a moment of shock and frustration, shoving the ANBU aside as he charged towards the door to his office and ran into the hall.

Quickly turning around he shouted, "Naruto!"

He waited, listening, hoping to hear a response, anything, only to hear nothing.

Cursing he turned around in the opposite direction, "Naruto, where are yo-" he suddenly stopped mid-sentence as he caught something in his peripheral vision…and he inwardly gasped in a mixture of shock and horror.

Slowly turning his head, he inwardly prayed that he was not truly seeing what his eyes told him he was seeing. He prayed that it was a trick of the light, that it was wrong, that he was hallucinating because of the stress the day's events had placed upon his shoulders.

'_Please Kami no.'_ he trembled as he stepped forward…looking at the clock on the wall.

The clock which he had just recently fixed to ensure it was always on the correct time…the clock he had seen day after day as he entered his office…the clock he had seen just before Naruto arrived…

The clock which was telling him…that he had been in that office, reading that document for over an hour.

Hiruzen's heart raced, his breath hitched as he felt the entire world crash around him.

How focused was he on that document that he allowed an entire hour to pass after Naruto had stormed out of his office? By now Naruto could have made it to the gates if he so desired and left Konoha by now, he could be halfway to the nearest border town by now!

And if he was still in the village, that was an entire hour he had ahead of them, by the time his ANBU found him Kushina would already have a-

'_Kushina!'_ Hiruzen's fear enveloped him as he raced back into his office, shoving the same ANBU aside as he ran behind his desk. Without a single wasted motion, he pressed the very same button he had pressed mere hours before and shouted, "Attention, aid, this is a code red, all Shinobi are to find Naruto Uzumaki and bring him to my office! He is to be brought to be alive and unharmed! That is an order!" Hiruzen panted as he removed his hand from the button, and leaned against his desk, his knuckles turning white as he dragged his nails across the desk.

Hiruzen cursed as he slowly looked up.

Meanwhile, the ANBU who had been shoved twice by the Sandaime was staring at Hiruzen, trying to figure out what they were supposed to do.

Not more than a second after Hiruzen looked up did he snarl and unleash a massive burst of killing intent, "Well?! What are you still doing here?! You heard my orders, no go!"

The ANBU felt their heart stop for a second before quickly bowing, "Hai Sandaime-sama!" and swiftly vanished in a shunshin.

…

…

…

Hiruzen lowered his head and collapsed into his chair, while his hands slowly moved up, his fingers interlacing with each other as he pressed his forehead against them…a single question running rampant in his mind.

_Why?_

Of all the days Kushina could have returned to Konoha, why did it have to be today? Mere hours before, he had a rogue Chunin steal the forbidden scroll, and not long after that, the same rogue Chunin had to go and reveal the truth of the Kyuubi attack to the one person who was never supposed to know. The one person, who by being what he was, was an infinitely greater asset than the Forbidden Scroll itself.

The worst part of all this, was that the asset was not an object, a tool, no; it was a living entity, a being with thoughts, it had emotions…it had free will, and currently, all the cards were in his hands.

Hiruzen was no fool; he knew that a Jinchuriki, simply by being what they were, could never live a stable life, much less a happy one. The most he could ever do was make certain that the loyalty of the Jinchuriki was towards Konohagakure no Sato.

However, it appears in that endeavor, he had failed.

Sighing, Hiruzen slowly looked up and turned his head to gaze at the contract he had written, his last hope at keeping Naruto in Konoha.

His last hope, which was currently at the mercy of a vengeful woman who sought to destroy the very child she had given life to.

"…_this is a code red, all Shinobi are to find Naruto Uzumaki and bring him to my office! He is to be brought to be alive and unharmed! That is an order!"_

Hiruzen turned his head towards the village as the alarms blared, the same message he had given his aid echoing across the village.

Sighing, he looked up at the clock on the wall.

'_One minute.'_ one minute…only a single minute had passed since he had given his aid that message.

Years ago, one minute was all it took for him and his ANBU to stop Kushina from driving a kunai into Naruto's chest, mere hours after he had been turned into a Jinchuriki by his own father.

But years ago, Kushina had been weakened from giving birth to triplets, and he had her outnumbered ten to one. She had only given in to his demands because of that, if he had encountered her alone, there was no doubt in his mind that she would have easily cut him down, before doing the same to Naruto.

That was years ago, and even then he stood no chance against her on his own, even while she was weakened from childbirth.

Kushina had over twelve years to improve herself, all the while; he had no idea how strong she had gotten, what skills she had at her disposal, or what weaknesses in her techniques she had destroyed.

As these thoughts traversed through his psyche, Hiruzen had to ask himself…if push came to shove…if he had no other option than to fight her directly…even with all of Konohagakure's Shinobi at his disposal…

Did he even stand a chance?

Meanwhile

"…_this is a code red, all Shinobi are to find Naruto Uzumaki and bring him to my office! He is to be brought to be alive and unharmed! That is an order!"_

This single message echoed across all of Konohagakure, from the residential district, where Shinobi awoke from their rest and quickly piled into the streets, to the slums where ANBU patrols doubled their efforts.

In the merchant district, a group of Chunin circled together as a Jonin began to bark out orders, "I want six of you heading north, check the alleys, the homes, any place the little brat could have hidden, I want them checked. You three…" the Jonin said pointing to three of the Chunin, "Circle the merchant district, check the sewers and stalls!" the Jonin turned around, looking at the others, "All of you with me, we are going to cover east and west, do not overlook a single place the brat could have hidden, I don't care if it is an abandoned warehouse or a trash can, if by some means he could hide there, look!" he snapped around, "You have your orders, now go!"

Without a second to spare, the Chunin departed, while the Jonin lead the remaining Chunin.

Scenes like this occurred all across Konohagakure, every Shinobi in the village, Genin, Chunin, Jonin, or even ANBU were searching every hole Naruto could have hidden in.

So focused were they on their task, that they never noticed the trio walking right down the main road.

In front of the group was a beautiful woman, on her feet she wore a closed pair of Shinobi boots, the edges of which seemed to be stained with dried blood. Wrapping around her lower body was a form fitting pair of Hakama pants, adorned with armor plates protecting the sides of her legs and her knees. Wrapped around her waist was a cloth sash, black as a starless sky, streaked with blood tinted stains. Adorning her upper body, hugging her generous bust was a tight fitting haori, adorning it was a series of overlapping metallic plates which protected her chest and abdomen, along with her sides and arms. Upon each shoulder was a pauldrons made of the same overlapping design so often found in the armor of the daimyo's samurai, and on each arm she wore a gauntlet, with each knuckle adorned with a metallic spike.

The woman herself was beautiful, her facial features were soft, accentuated by her pale yet fair skin complexion. Her eyes were a gorgeous violet color, seemingly glistening like a perfect gemstone. The beauty she already possessed was further enhanced by her bright scarlet red hair, which flowed down her back, reaching past her lower back, her face being framed by two long bangs, and her hair being partially held up by a single hair clip on the left side. Her beauty only marred by the angry scowl and furrowed brow which seemed to have been etched onto her features.

The woman was none other than Kushina Namikaze…widow of the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze…mother to Naruto Uzumaki.

"…_this is a code red, all Shinobi are to find Naruto Uzumaki and bring him to my office! He is to be brought to be alive and unharmed! That is an order!"_

Kushina snapped her head up to stare at the speakers which repeated the same message over and over again, a scowl adorning her features.

'_So, that is your plan, Hiruzen?'_ Kushina snarled inwardly as her fist tightened.

"Kaa-sama."

Kushina turned her head to the two behind her.

Standing behind her was a girl wearing a closed pair of Shinobi boots, they were worn if the frayed edges were anything to go by. Wrapping around her lower body was a form fitting pair of Hakama pants, adorned with armor plates protecting the sides of her legs and her knees. Wrapped around her waist was a cloth sash, gray in color, stained with a fair amount of dirt. Adorning her upper body, hugging her bust was a tight fitting haori, adorning it was a series of overlapping metallic plates which protected her chest and abdomen, along with her sides and arms.

While not nearly as beautiful as Kushina, the girl was not by any means average. Her facial features were soft like Kushina's, but there was a certain sharpness about her facial features that distinguished her from Kushina's softer beauty. Her skin was not quite as fair, nor pale as Kushina's, in fact, her skin had a noticeable tan tone to it. Her eyes were a violet tinted blue color, which shimmered in the light of the night sky. In addition to all of this, upon her head she had long blond hair which was tied into a top knot.

The girl was Natsuki Namikaze…daughter of Kushina Namikaze and Minato Namikaze…sister to Naruto Uzumaki.

To the girls right was a boy wearing a closed set of samurai greave. Wrapping around his lower body was a form fitting pair of Hakama pants, adorned with armor plates protecting the sides of his legs and his knees. Wrapped around his waist was a cloth sash, gray in color, stained with a fair amount of dirt. Adorning his upper body, was a samurai chest piece, and on each shoulder were samurai pauldrons, and on his forearms were lightweight armor pieces.

The boy's facial structure was incredibly similar to the Yondaime, but there were rounded features that separated them, but the similarities were certainly there. His skin complexion was a noticeable tan, certainly not pale by any measure. He had electric blue eyes with pitch black pupils, and a single scar underneath his left eye, which seemed to be faded, suggesting it was an old wound. On top of his head, he had reddish hair, but the tone was marred by a lighter tone, making it an almost blondish red color. The hair seemed to stand up in spikes along the sides, with two long bangs framing his face, with the hair falling back, the light spikes overlapping as the hair fell down his neck smoothly.

The boy was Arashi Namikaze…son of Kushina Namikaze and Minato Namikaze…brother to Naruto Uzumaki.

Kushina looked at Natsuki, "Yes?" her gaze was hard, but there was a certain care in her gaze as she looked at her daughter.

Natsuki spoke up, her voice was soft, but firm and full of confidence and conviction, "Is it time Kaa-sama?"

…

…

…

Kushina turned around and walked up to Natsuki, staring at her softly, and allowed a small smile to come to her face as she placed her hands on Natsuki's shoulders, "Yes otome, it is time." Kushina turned her head to Arashi, her smile gone, "Arashi…"

Arashi nodded his head and reached behind him, activating a seal hidden from sight. A small pop echoed forth and cloud of smoke appeared, and from it, a single scroll, which Arashi held out as he spoke with a firm voice, "Kaa-sama."

Kushina took the scroll and nodded, "Thank you sochi." Kushina turned around, her back towards Natsuki and Arashi as she brought her thumb to her mouth and bit into it, drawing forth blood which then slowly trickled down her thumb. With a single motion, Kushina smeared the blood on the edge of the scroll, "Kai." and a cloud of smoke silently erupted from the scroll, and Kushina thrust her hand into the smoke, before rapidly pulling it out.

Natsuki and Arashi looked at Kushina's hand, and saw in its grip three Katana's, nearly tied together, each one sheathed in a white scabbard, the edges adorned with runic symbols that were unfamiliar to the common languages spoken in the elemental nations.

But the three Namikaze knew what they said all too well.

Kushina lowered her arm and untied the three Katana's, before tossing one to Arashi, and another to Natsuki, who quickly tied the Katana's to their respective sashes.

Kushina dropped the scroll which had once carried them and tied the Katana to her own sash.

As soon as Kushina finished, she turned her head to her children and spoke with a firm tone, "Search Konoha quickly, find the demon, and kill him."

Arashi and Natsuki nodded, "Hai, Kaa-sama."

Kushina spoke again, "And if anyone gets in your way…" she looked to them, her gaze hardened as she gripped the hilt of her katana.

Arashi and Natsuki spoke in unison, "Anyone who protects a demon, is no better than one."

Kushina nodded her head, "Now go…avenge your brother."

Arashi and Natsuki turned swiftly and headed in opposite directions, leaving Kushina by herself.

Kushina slowly turned around and looked up at the sky, sighing heavily as her hand tightened around the hilt of her katana, as she brought a single hand to her heart, _'Soon, my precious Sochi, you shall be free of your torment, and you may finally rest in peace.'_ her hand near her heart tightened as a single tear fell down her cheek, _'This I swear…Naruto.'_

Without a single wasted second, Kushina sprinted in another direction, all the while, Konoha's Shinobi still failed to notice them.

Meanwhile

In the village of Konohagakure, the Shinobi were searching everywhere that Naruto could hide. Whether it be trash cans, the sewers, abandoned buildings, or even the tunnels in the Hokage monument.

However, nobody had considered to check the forests and training grounds just outside the village limits.

Deep in the forests surrounding the village, Naruto slowly walked down the dirt paths that twisted and turned through the forests surrounding the village. His head lowered, causing his hair to cover his eyes as his hands were hanging loosely at his sides.

After Naruto had left the office, he had walked through Konoha, looking all around as Konoha's citizens walked past him, each one glaring at him with hate in their eyes, their faces twisted into sneers as they passed by him, their hushed whispers laced with venom and contempt. All because he was the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, all because he had been used the moment he was born to hold the beast back, by his own father no less.

It disgusted him.

He could no longer stand being within the main village, and had walked into the forests surrounding the village…as far away from the degenerates he had grown to despise.

At this time of night, he was truly the only person in the forest, everyone else patrolling the village or sleeping, or enjoying the night life.

As Naruto walked through the forest, his mind wandered, and he became so engrossed in his thoughts that he became unaware of the world around him. He heard nothing from the village behind him, nor anything from the forest.

Instead, his psyche was plagued with image after image as a thousand facts came roaring through his subconscious.

He had been abandoned by his own mother, who has been training his siblings to kill him one day.

All his life, he had suffered at the hands of the village, from the moment he was born, up until now, he had been a scapegoat for their grief, their suffering, their rage.

He had been made a street rat when the orphanage threw him out at a tender young age, all because the matron could not look past her grief and misery.

He had been denied basic human rights for something he had never been given a choice in.

He had been beaten and tortured, hospitalized for the sins of another.

He had been sabotaged from day one of his potential Shinobi career.

And the worst part of all of this…was that his own father, the man who had been revered as the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, had been the one to force this burden on him.

As these facts swept through his mind, his teeth ground together as his fists clenched so hard that his nails began to cut into his palms.

Unbeknownst to him, as his anger increased, as the images of his life flashed before his eyes, his pace quickened to the point he was running through the forests, he had actually gone off the dirt paths winding through the forests. The lights and sounds created by Konohagakure were dimming to the point of nonexistence.

Naruto kept running through the forests, the images of his past, every horrible thing done to him, ever sin committed against him, flashing before his eyes as his jaw tightened and his fists clenched tightly, blood seeping between his fingers as his nails carved into his palms.

Naruto kept running faster and faster, despite the fact his vision was blocked by the images that would not stop flashing in front of his eyes.

Because of this, Naruto never saw the stone sticking out of the ground, causing him to lose his balance, and come crashing down to earth.

Flopping onto the ground before rolling in a tangled mess of his own limbs, his bones creaking as he kept rolling, before he finally skidded to a halt.

Naruto made no movement other than the expansion and deflation of his chest as he inhaled and exhaled as he laid flat on the ground, his arms outstretched as his face was in the dirt.

He slowly started to move, his right arm bending as he drew it in closer, while his fingers dug into the ground. His hand was in a position where he was able to push himself up, instead, his fingers dragged through the dirt again, curling into a fist.

Swinging his right arm as high as he could in his position, he then swung it down, smashing his fist into the dirt, he brought his fist back again and brought it back down, his teeth bared as he kept swinging his arm back and smashing it into the ground.

His left arm bent as he swung his right arm, his fingers digging into the dirt as they curled into a fist, and he pushed himself up as he screamed, "Arrghh!" and swung his left fist into the ground, smashing blow after blow, left and right into the dirt he had just before been laying in.

Naruto's fists slammed into the dirt, each punch lifting up a billowing cloud of sand and soil as his face contorted into one of pure anger and hatred.

Naruto's face was twisted into a visage of pure anger and hatred as his fists collided with the earth.

Naruto had created a small pit just from his punches.

Naruto's breathing was hitched as he flexed his fingers, which were severely cut up from his pummeling the ground.

Naruto's breathing quickened as his teeth clenched and he looked up.

In front of him was a large tree, one of which stood tall and proudly over the others, a beautiful tree, unlike anything he had seen before.

But in his enraged state, he did not care, all he saw was another object to take his anger out on, "Arrghh!" he jumped up and shot at the tree, burying his fist in the bark over and over again before switching to the other arm.

As he felt his knuckles begin to peel from his abuse of the tree, he swung his leg, smashing it into the tree, his leg creaked as it connected with the tree.

Naruto was not oblivious to his pain, but his anger overrode his need to relieve the pain.

Naruto's eyes glared daggers at the tree as he struck the three with unrelenting viciousness as his anger, his hatred, every emotion he was feeling at that moment exploded outward in a violent burst.

All the while, the seal on his stomach pulsed rapidly in response to his anger, and a red glow began to escape it.

Naruto's eyes continued to burn holes into the tree as his once round pupils narrowed into slits, and a crimson tint began to bleed into his irises.

Snarling deeply as his canines grew longer, he pulled back his right hand and he roared in a tone riddled with demonic aggression, **"Raaagghhhh!"** and swung his fist forward…

Tearing a massive chunk out of the tree he was striking.

Naruto stood there, panting as his eyes went from cerulean blue to blood red, as his whiskers marks became thicker and infinitely more savage, as his nails lengthened slightly and sharpened to points.

Naruto's panting turned into strained growls as he erupted in anger, **"Raaaaghhh!"** and threw himself at the nearby trees, smashing his fists into the and severing their trunks, while he smashed his hands into the dirt and ripped up the ground in chunks, smashing his hands into boulders with such strength that they shattered like glass, while his legs tore the trunks of trees in two.

Unbeknownst to him…the power which strengthened him, the power which allowed him to rip trees and stone apart.

Konoha could feel it.

Kage Tower

Hiruzen looked between the two ANBU who had just arrived to his office, "Well?!" he snapped, his anger starting to affect him more than it normally would.

The taller of the two ANBU spoke, "Sandaime-sama, we have checked all over the village, and there is no sign of Naruto anywhere, it is plausible to suggest Naruto has left the village."

Hiruzen grit his teeth and smashed his fist into the desk, "Damn it!" he looked at the other ANBU, "Gather a team of trackers and find him! If Naruto gets beyond the borders of Hi no Kuni then-"

Hiruzen was suddenly silenced as he felt a horrible ominous presence overtake him…a presence he had not felt in years, but one he remembered all too well.

'_No.'_ Hiruzen turned around and looked out his office window, and stared out in the direction he felt the presence originating.

He could faintly see a spiraling pillar of red ever so gently lifting out of the forests just outside the main village, within Konoha's walls.

Gritting his teeth, Hiruzen snapped his head around and looked at the ANBU, "So you checked 'all over the village' did you? Did it seem to escape your mind that the forests inside of Konoha's walls were part of the village?!" he said with his killing intent faintly leaking out.

The ANBU shivered under Hiruzen's hardened gaze, "Sandaime-sama I-I-"

The Sandaime ignored the ANBU and pushed past them, "Come! We have no time to waste!" he exited his office and headed out of the tower as quickly as he could.

The ANBU seemed shocked by what had just happened, but quickly followed the Sandaime as ordered.

All the while, the Sandaime lowered his head as he exited the Kage Tower, _'Please Kami, don't let me be too late.'_

With Kushina

Kushina was running through Konoha as soon as she felt the burst of Kyuubi's chakra. Without a single second she had leapt over the various districts of Konoha as she headed towards the forests.

Kushina's eyes were ablaze with a fire of fierce and unrelenting intent.

"Kaa-sama!"

Kushina turned briefly to see Natsuki and Arashi tailing behind her.

Arashi leapt forward until he was next to Kushina as they headed across the roofs of Konoha, "Kaa-sama, the demon is-"

Kushina cut him off, "Yes Arashi, it is." Kushina turned her head forward as she reached for the hilt of her Katana before she stopped on a roof of a building that stood just outside the forest.

Slowly, Kushina gripped the hilt of her blade, and slowly removed it from its scabbard.

The blade itself shimmered with a silvery glow, and all along the length of the blade, silver-white etchings like the ones on the scabbard itself glowed forth brightly as more of the blade was revealed.

With a single swing, a vibrating hum sounded throughout the night air as she held the blade out in front of her, its shimmering glow brightly lighting up the silver blade.

Natsuki and Arashi stared at the blade, and looked back at their own.

Kushina stared forward as she spoke loudly, "Let us end this once and for all…tonight, the Kyuubi no Yoko draws its last breathe!" she shot into the forest with ruthless ferocity.

Natsuki and Arashi nodded to one another and drew out their own katana's, which were no different than Kushina's, and quickly followed her into the forest.

Kushina stared forward as her movements sped up as her eyes burned with the same ruthless intent as before, _'Hold on sochi…Kaa-chan is coming.'_

Naruto

The forests of Konohagakure, outside the village walls and within them, had always been known as the most wondrous and beautiful trees in all of Hi no Kuni. Even the trees neatly groomed and tended to by the daimyo's gardeners, and botanists of such high caliber that they were artists in their own right, paled in comparison to them.

But now, an entire acre of the once pristine forest, laid broken and battered, as if they were but a pile of twigs stepped underfoot by a great beast. At the center of it all, was Naruto Uzumaki himself.

Naruto stood hunched over as he stared at the ground, his breathing heavy as his body shook from anger and agony.

Hissing loudly, Naruto fell to his knees as he slowly brought his hands up, his bones and muscles screaming in agony from such a simple yet strenuous motion. He stared at his hands, and beheld their form.

His hands had been cut and scraped so badly from his blinding anger, that he could see the bones and muscles underneath what was once skin. The bones were cracked, the flesh frayed, and blood seeped between his fingers from slashed veins and severed tendons.

But that is not what concerned him, no…what concerned him was the red haze which licked across his skin, wrapping around his fingertips, down his forearms, burning into the skin of his very body.

Naruto's eyes narrowed in anger as he looked upon his frayed hands, and watching as the Kyuubi's chakra healed them.

The cracked bones snapped back together and burned with a foul hiss as they splinted back together as if they had never been broken to begin with. The tendons morbidly flowed back, connecting to the bone like a foul tar before they were wrapped by the red flesh that was quickly enveloped by the very skin which so short a time ago had been ruthlessly torn from it.

As soon as it came, the red haze of the Kyuubi disappeared, like a morning mist in the rising day.

Naruto kept staring at his hands, now unscathed, undamaged.

…

…

…

As Naruto continued to stare at his hands, his teeth grit tighter and tighter as his eyes narrow until he could barely see through them as his lips curled into a snarling visage, "Arrghh!" and smashed both his fists back into the ground, as he panted and heaved as his malice and hatred spilled through him once again.

His eyes snapped back open as he thought of everything that had happened in his life, everything that had caused him to live his miserable existence.

His disgusting father's decision to seal the Kyuubi no Yoko inside of his own son, never once considering his well-being.

The decision of the Sandaime to tell the villagers what he was, too blinded by his duty to the village to know the misery he would suffer every waking moment of his life.

The villager's actions against him, using the Kyuubi sealed inside of him as a tool for them to make his life, from cradle to classroom, an unending and unjust hell.

Naruto's teeth tightened as the reasons for his misery piled up, and he snarled angrily.

Every crime committed against him, every sin from the simplest neglect to the most complex and ruthless beating he had endured in his short life, every single act of cruelty was committed by the same thing that had caused him misery his entire life.

Humanity…

While the Kyuubi may have attacked the village, it was the decision of a _human_ that made him a vessel, it was the decision of a _human_ that had made him a target in the same place he should have had the right to call home, it was _humanity _that had made him suffer every waking moment of his life.

Humanity had been the source of his suffering…from day one, to now.

As this fact burned into Naruto's psyche he slowly brought his hands up from the ground, and he stared at his hands.

His frail…weak…pathetic…human hands.

He slowly closed his hands into fists and lowered them, as he lowered his head, his hair covering his eyes.

'_To any god who will listen…free me from this torment…'_

Naruto's fists tightened as blood seeped through his fingertips.

'…_free me from this prison…'_

A single drop of blood dropped off his clenched and bloody fists.

'…_release me from the chains of humanity…'_

The blood drop smashed into the ground, and spattered about.

'…_and free me from mine.'_

The spattering blood stopped, forming a small pool of blood on the ground…all of a sudden, the pool of blood began to ripple slightly, like the ocean shore with a gentle breeze, and the blood began to bubble and swell like boiling water, as steam rose off of the surface of the blood.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes as he smelled the foul odor and looked down to see the small pool of bubbling blood, _'Wha-'_

"**Is that your wish?"**

Naruto's eyes shot open as he suddenly stood up, lowering himself into a combat stance as he turned around towards the direction he had heard the voice come from.

Naruto's eyes widened further as he saw…

Nothing…

Naruto's eyes darted all over the place as he looked around, his eyes looking left and right as he tried to find the voice.

Meanwhile, the clouds above began to converge, darkening to become as black as sin.

Naruto kept looking around, "Who's there?" he heard no answer, and he shouted, "Where are you?!"

"**Right behind you."**

Naruto froze in place, as he heard the voice…

They were directly behind him.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly began to turn his head, his eyes slowly looking up as he raised his head.

His eyes widened in a mixture of shock, and a hint of fear, when he saw what was behind him.

Standing before him, was a man unlike any he had ever seen before in his life. The man towered above him, not just in his physical stature…

But in his very presence.

Naruto felt like a mouse standing before a hungry lion, just from looking up at the man's visage.

The man's facial features were unlike anything he had seen before in his life, his facial structure was soft, but a sharpness in the angles of his facial structures gave him a regality that no daimyo could ever hope to command. His eyes were round, lacking a pupil of any kind, or even a sclera, the whole of his eye was dominated by a swirling vortex of the most dark and unnatural cyan he had ever beheld in his life. Underneath each eye, Naruto saw what at first appeared to be streaks of silver, so pristine, so enchanting, that it made the midnight sky on a starry night seem like a cloudy day, but as Naruto unconsciously looked closer, his eyes saw that the things beneath his eyes were not simple streaks of silver, no…there was a pattern of runes and symbols so unlike anything he had ever seen, that he could not believe fully if such symbols had merit, or were made up by the figure whose presence dwarfed any he had felt in his life.

Upon the top of the man's head, he sported long hair that seemed to be composed of lines of silver and onyx, wrapped around one another like a swirling helix. The hairstyle itself seemed almost like an explosion of waving flickers of a roaring flame, with a mane of sorts flowing just past the middle of his neck.

And his skin, a shade of onyx so dark that he felt as if he was looking at a physical embodiment of shadow itself.

However, all the traits on the man's face were normal compared to the ornate and inhuman things which he saw.

Three horn-like spikes hovered in place around the man's visage, not one seemed to hover lower than the man's upper lip, and not one hovered even a bit higher than the top of his head. One spike hovered just off his forehead, swirling in an ornate helix shape, never once touching his skin, nor floating away from his head. Another spike floated just below his eyes, this one had the shape of a twisted branching claw, but kept the same horn-like visage, reaching up to almost touch the eye of the man whose face it hovered off of. The final spike, which hovered so close to his cheek it nearly touched, was like a branching spike, at the base, it branched off into three asymmetrical portions, with the central spike extending further up, before twisting and coiling into a loop shape.

Naruto at first thought the spikes simply floated there, but he then saw as the spikes moved about, orbiting the head of the man before him, like the moon does the world of which the elemental nations resides.

As the spikes became closer to one another, a sudden arc of energy unlike any he had seen before in his life connected the spikes before they continued their orbit.

Naruto's gaze then lowered as he tried to look away from the inhuman visage, and saw the clothing…no…the armor this man wore.

Starting at his feet, he wore ornate and regal greaves which looked to be composed of strips of blood red steel that wrapped around his feet, ankle, and shin, each strip of steel seemed to be welded together by black runes, whose darkness could only be matched by the skin of the man who wore them. This armor traveled up the leg, until suddenly, it was replaced, no more did the black runes hold the steel together, instead, the steel wrapping around the rest of the leg, leaving a large space in between them…but instead of armor beneath it, or even flesh…there was utter blackness, like a void or an…abyss.

The armor continued like that up the legs, crimson steel being replaced by black as the armor around the waist blocked the armors destination from view.

Around his waist there were plates of hooked and sharpened black steel which overlapping one another, hanging off the waist, covering the area just below where the man's crotch was. It was unknown to Naruto if such armor ran around the entirety of his waist, for there was more armor on top of that, and not even Samurai had armor so ornate as what he was seeing.

Hanging off of the man's waist were curved and sharpened pieces of steel, twisting like a root of a tree as it tore through the soil beneath it, reaching all the way past his knees, almost touching the ground that was beneath his feet. Unlike any armor he had seen before in his life, the ends of the armor seemed to glow with an unholy and inhuman red color. The closest he could describe the color he was seeing and how it affected the steel of his black armor was comparing it to metal heated in a forge…but that description did not do what he was seeing before him any justice whatsoever. These long strips of metal fell off his body all around his waist, with only the very front being free of them, and each strip ended in a hook-like blade which seemed to scream with a deadly curve unlike any he had ever seen.

These strips of metal also had accessories unlike any he had seen. Right where they came off his body, there were glowing orbs of the same color as the tone at the end of the strips that came off of his waist, glowing, writhing. To call them embedded jewels seemed not only unworthy…but insulting.

Across his abdomen, it was protected by overlapping strips of steel, not unlike the ones that came off his waist which seemed to link together like chain mail, covering every single inch of the body, leaving not even a single portion exposed. In addition, each strip was engraved in runes, and Naruto did not know if it was a trick of the eyes, the armor, or if what he was seeing was real, but the runes did not stay as they were, it seemed as though every time he looked at them, there was a different rune in place where another had been. The strips started off small near the waist, but they seemed to grow wider and more ornate in their wrapping around the body than the ones before, until finally, the strips interlaced, and formed what appeared to be ornate pauldrons on the man's shoulders, and like on his waist, these strips of steel hung off it, forming hook-like blades at the end, which seemed to be lit up with the same inhuman red color as the ones on the waist…on each pauldrons, two long strips fell past his elbows, and hooked outward on each side of the man's gauntlets.

The man's gauntlets were formed more similarly to the armor on his feet and shins, the dark runes fusing the steel strips together, but all along the length of the forearm, there were glowing orbs that seemed to write and churn…just like the ones on the man's waist. And wrapping around the man's fingers, were segmented plates, and at the very end of the digit, was a savage and unholy claw.

Naruto's heart raced as he stared at this man, whom was so different from any person he had seen in his life, he could not believe that such a man was possibly real, _'Am I hallucinating?'_ he tried to find some way to rationalize what was before him, _'Am I under a Genjutsu?'_ he quickly pulsed his chakra in an attempt to dispel whatever illusion he was under…

Nothing…

The man was still standing before him, and he still felt like an ant in comparison to this man's unyielding and potent presence.

This man…this…_being_…before him.

He was real.

With this realization, Naruto felt an overwhelming sense of dread, and felt his already small existence in comparison to this man shrink to practically nothing.

With a strained tone, Naruto finally spoke, "W-who, are you?" his voice was slow and careful, as his fists clenched as his muscles tensed, his pulse quickening as his breathing hitched.

The figure's lips curved into a smile and he spoke, **"Who am I, you ask?"** the being chuckled with an obvious humor as he spoke again, **"Oh Naruto, I think you already know."**

Naruto's eyes widened further, _'He knows my name?'_ the feeling of dread seemed to creep over him further as he felt his heart seemingly stop at the revelation that this man before him already knew who he was.

He knew he had never met this man before, how could he ever forget such a being?

So how did he know who he was?

The being seemed to see the turmoil in Naruto's eyes and smiled, **"I see you are confused, let me give you a hint."** he turned his body ever so slightly and took a single step forward, revealing the back of his head, which had two identical horn-like spikes floating off the back of his head, not once moving a single inch, and were curved in in ornate and spiraling manner, and slowly began to walk around Naruto, **"Mere moments ago, before I revealed myself to you, before I even spoke to you, you asked something…" **he glanced at Naruto with a small smirk on his lips, **"Pay attention to the first part, and you will have your answer."**

Naruto stared at him with confusion, even as he felt his heart rate pulse faster as the man walked around him. What did he mean? What he had asked before he had even spoke to him? He hadn't said anything, all he had done was-

…

…

…

Realization dawned on him, _'He read my mind?!'_ he asked himself in a bit of panic. His eyes glanced back at the man. Not even the Yamanaka, who were known for their mind based ninjutsu could do what he had done.

But what did he mean, pay attention to the first part? Naruto tried to think as he remembered what he had asked, _'To any god who will listen…free me from this tor-'_

Naruto's eyes widened, _'No…no way.'_ he stared at the man who had stopped walking around him, and was now looking at him with a small smile on his face, _'He…he is a…'_

Naruto gulped and finally spoke, "Y-you're a…God?" Naruto's usual feelings of doubt would tell him that this man was lying, that he was just somebody trying to deceive him…but the voice that told him that was unusually silent.

This man...was not lying at all.

The man…no…the God smirked wider, **"Yes, I am."** he allowed a chuckle to escape his lips, **"Allow me to…properly…introduce myself."** he stepped back and placed a hand out across his chest and grinned, **"I am Shin'en, the Eternal Abyssal God…"** his grin turned into a smile, **"And I have made myself known…to you, Naruto."**

Naruto could not describe what he was feeling right now…shock? Awe? Dread? Fear? No, there was no word he knew of that could describe the feeling he had right now.

How could anyone describe the feeling of standing in the presence of a God?

As Naruto tried to find words to describe his situation, Shin'en spoke up, a serious, but amused expression on his face, **"Now…did you mean what you asked?"**

Naruto's attention snapped to him as Shin'en proceeded to walk around him.

"**Do you truly wish to be free of your torment?"** he said as he held out one arm, his fingers outstretched, a look of questioning curiosity on his face, **"Be…free…of your prison?"** he interlaced his fingers together before swiftly snapping them away from each other before stopping as he stood behind Naruto, he slowly moved his arms, and placed them on Naruto's shoulders, causing him to stiffen as he felt the grip of the Eternal Abyssal God, literally, on his shoulders, **"To be released…from the chains of humanity…"**

Naruto's eyes were wide as Shin'en leaned over, his head so close to Naruto…

"**And to be freed…from your own?"** Shin'en grinned as he removed his hands from Naruto's shoulders and lightly moved past him, before swiftly turning around as he stood in front of Naruto, his fingertips pressed against one another.

Naruto looked up at Shin'en for a brief second, before he lowered his head.

…

…

…

The silence of the forest was deafening, not even a single chirp was heard, as if all of creation had turned silent, and focused all of their attention on this single moment.

Time seemed to freeze in place, and finally, the silence was broken…by a single word.

"Yes."

Shin'en's face betrayed no emotional change as he spoke, **"What?"**

Naruto slowly looked up, his eyes firm and without a hint of doubt as he spoke again, "Yes!" he shouted, "Yes! I want my torment to end, I want this leash around my neck that keeps me bound to my prison off! I want the chains of humanity to be ripped from me…" he became silent as he said quietly, "I don't want to be human anymore…please." he said quietly as he looked up at Shin'en.

Never once did his gaze falter, nor his conviction.

Shin'en grinned ever so slightly, **"Good."** he walked towards Naruto, **"Very good." **he stopped just a few steps away from him, **"I am pleased that your conviction is steadfast and unyielding, Naruto."** he chuckled slightly and said swiftly, **"Very well! I shall grant your request."**

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard Shin'en's answer.

Shin'en smiled as he saw the look in Naruto's eyes, **"However…"** he said sternly, while looking at the young blond, **"There are a few…formalities…that must be addressed first."** he looked down at Naruto's abdomen, **"Let's start with the Kyuubi then, shall we?"**

The moment Shin'en finished saying that, a bright and luminous orange light illuminated through Naruto's clothing, much to Naruto's shock, and Shin'en's apparent amusement.

Shin'en smirked as he stepped back, **"Let us begin."** he took in a deep breath…and closed both of his eyes

What would happen here, would change everything…

Shin'en exhaled, and his eyes snapped open, revealing his eyes glowing brighter than before as the essence leaked from his eyes, falling across his face like unholy tears. The essence then traveled down his neck and onto his shoulders.

At that moment, the steel strips bent like living tendrils and scooped up the essence, swirling it about in their grip as they passed it from one to another. The two long strips which hooked past his elbow slither back up and gripped the essence of the Abyssal God, and condensed it together, forming a tranquil sphere of his energies which they then released and allowed to fall gently into the hand of the Abyssal God.

Shin'en smiled as he lifted his arm, and looked upon the sphere of his energies as it pulsed in a mixture of colors unlike any that mortal eyes had ever seen, watching as they beautifully churned together, like a raging maelstrom, **"Perfect."** he smirked and looked at Naruto, and the glow that had not once lost its intensity, **"I must ask that you hold still for this next part."**

Naruto's only response was a single glint in both of his eyes.

Shin'en chuckled at that, **"Very well."** Shin'en moved the hand holding his essence, and reached it towards the glow on Naruto's abdomen.

"Naruto!"

Shin'en stopped the ritual and turned his head slightly, while Naruto looked up in shock, and a bit of anger.

Standing on the edge of the forest, clearly winded, was Hiruzen Sarutobi, flanked by two of his ANBU. As he was there, many more Shinobi arrived, each one armed and ready.

Each one staring in shock as they saw Shin'en.

Hiruzen was not complacent, he saw the inhuman man standing in front of Naruto, holding out an orb of energy unlike anything ever seen by his old eyes, and he saw the orange glow originating from Naruto's naval, right where the Shiki Fuin was located, "Naruto, get away from that man, he can't be trust-"

Hiruzen stopped as he felt a crushing killing intent fall upon him. It was so sudden that the only reason he was not on his knees gasping for breath was his experience in such situations, after surviving two separate Shinobi wars, not to mention the smaller wars in between…the other Shinobi, were not as fortunate.

"Kyuubi!"

Hiruzen's eyes widened, his face of shock replaced by horror, _'Oh Kami no.'_ he moved his head slightly, just in time to see three blurs shoot past him, standing before him, their backs turned, as if he, and his forces were not even worth their attention.

Kushina Namikaze…and her children, Natsuki and Arashi, had arrived.

All three had their attention solely on the blond Jinchuriki…the son and brother they had come to murder.

All seemingly unaware of the being who stood before him, or simply not caring for his presence, so blinded by their bloodlust.

Natsuki stepped up and spoke, "Kyuubi, the Namikaze family has returned, and we shall dispense the justice that was denied us!"

Arashi held his sword out, "October tenth, twelve years ago, you took something very _precious_ from us that day." Natsuki readied her sword, as did Arashi, "For the brother you murdered Kyuubi, the one whose body you cruelly inhabit, we will take something equally precious from you." Arashi shouted in anger as the grip around his sword tightened, "Your life!"

The symbols on their blades glowed brighter then ever as they readied themselves.

Kushina swung her sword, as she shot forward, "Die Kyuubi!" and she shot forward, her sword held high, flanked by Arashi and Natsuki, their blades burning with white fire as they swung towards their target.

Naruto Uzumaki.

Shin'en simply stared at them, and sighed, mild annoyance straining his voice, and simply waved his free hand.

Kushina, Natsuki, and Arashi suddenly stopped in midair…before they were sent flying back with such speed, that the ANBU could not move a single inch when Kushina smashed into them, the bushes Arashi smashed into were flattened, and the tree Natsuki smashed into was cracked ever so slightly.

The three glowing blades they wielded did not go with them, having lost their grip, the three blades fell to earth, piercing the ground, before their glow became dull, until it was no more.

Shin'en snorted ever so slightly, before he turned his full attention back on Naruto, who was still staring at the group of Shinobi, **"Naruto."**

Naruto suddenly returned his gaze to Shin'en, and the Abyssal God could not help but smirk widely as the conviction in Naruto's eyes burned brighter than ever before.

Shin'en smiled, and spoke but a single word, **"Good."**

Before he thrust his arm into the glow of the seal on his stomach.

Breaking the Shiki Fuin seal.

"Arrgghh!" Naruto screamed in agony as the seal shattered, and the crimson glow of the Kyuubi's youki exploded out of him, burning through his clothing as it ripped across the ground, burning the entirety of the ground in all its entirety. Naruto screamed as his hands clutched at his stomach, burning them, and forcing him to cry out louder as the crimson haze smashed into the forest, setting the forest ablaze.

The crimson youki smashed through the forest, setting one blaze after another as entire trees were turned to ash, and the youki began to take a shape.

The youki began to twist inward as the youki took the shape of a cloud of crimson haze. The youki began to turn the ash into a bleached white tone, hardening, and condensing as the white ash began to take the form of complex shapes, forming a skeletal form. The skeleton was clearly that of a beast, one so unlike anything any mortal had ever seen. The ash created a warped skeletal frame that sprouted nine long skeletal tails, each one ending in a sharp and vile tip. The creatures back legs formed into a shape that seemed like a twisted mockery of the union between the legs of man and beast, the bones warping in unnatural and ugly manners, forming a skeletal foot, with each toe ending with a long sharpened claw.

The spine of the skeleton suddenly sprouted a series of ribs which wrapped around, forming into a ribcage, warped and twisted in both shape and function. As more bones formed from the ash, arms that were a twisted union of the form of the bones of man and beast took shape, and formed into arms ending in hands that had human-like digits, twisted into the vile claws of an animal. The beasts spine extended, forming neck bones, and in a twisted explosion, the bones of the spine exploded into a cloud of bony fragments, before the ash quickly swirled about it, reforming the spine…and creating the twisted canine-like skull of the Kyuubi no Yoko.

All of a sudden, the youki swirled about inside the skeletal beast, and the ash began to slowly form what appeared to be vile and twisted organs of some kind. But this was quickly hidden from view as the malevolent red youki of the Kyuubi clung to the bones like tight grip from a serpent. Suddenly, the youki shifted in form, forming a fleshy and more solid state as it formed muscles, tendons, veins and arteries, providing a strong frame upon the unnatural body it wrapped around.

The lingering youki stuck to the muscle structure, solidifying, forming a leathery layer on top of that, raw hairless skin that wrapped around every last inch of the body, the muscle frame, the build, the tone and structure, and as it reached the head, it wrapped around it, and the outlines of the eyeholes, nose, and mouth were evident in the skin…which began to twist and split like fresh dough being pulled away from each other, and in a single motion, the skin split open, revealing the gnashing inner jaws of the Kyuubi no Yoko as its prickled tongue lapped at the fangs which jutted out. At the same time, a light seam of skin appeared over the eyes, as nostrils tore open where the nose was, and a gust of air was inhaled by the great beast.

The skin began to quiver as the beasts hairless skin was adorned with fur, sprouting all across the nine bald tails, and all across its hairless body. The fur was a bloody crimson color, just like its youki. As the fur sprouted across the body, the flesh began to quiver as a pressure built up beneath it. In a single stroke, two long ears ripped from the skin like a dead flap of skin, the skin healed swiftly as the ears took shape and were adorned with fur.

The nose twitched as the abomination before them took in the scents around it, the sound of breathing echoed across the forest as the monsters chest expanded and retracted in rapid succession. The eyelids soon began to flutter, still being held shut by a few small strands of its new flesh…before they snapped open completely, revealing the crimson slitted eyes of the beast, glowing with an unmistakable malice.

After twelve long years…the Kyuubi no Yoko was free.

The Kyuubi seemed to simply stand there, before it slowly looked around, and its maw twisted into a cruel grin, and it roared, **"Ragghh!"** its howl of joy deafening those around it.

Hiruzen and the rest of Konoha stared in horror as they beheld the visage and living form of the Kyuubi no Yoko, who had been freed within the walls of Konohagakure itself.

But none more so than Kushina, whose eyes were wider than they had ever been as she looked upon Kyuubi.

And her still living son.

Sudden realization dawned upon her as this single fact was presented to her. After twelve years of believing her son had died, after twelve years of believing that the Kyuubi had overtaken her sons body, and was using his soulless corpse as a vessel, after twelve years of training her other two children for the singular purpose of killing him.

Instead, on the date she planned to end his life…she realizes that her righteousness was nothing more than cruel abandonment.

A single tear fell down Kushina's cheek as she was frozen in place, _'What have I done...?'_

Kyuubi ceased its roar, and smirked darkly as it laughed aloud, **"Haahahaaaaa! Finally, I am free!"** its grin turned into a cruel sneer, **"I am going to enjoy wiping that filthy ningen village off the map! I will trample it as I feast on the corpses of that blond bastard's village! Ragghh!"** the Kyuubi roared again and turned itself around, preparing to make a beeline for the village to carry out its vengeance.

Only for it to catch the form of Shin'en in his line of sight.

…

…

…

Kyuubi's aura of malice, which had inspired terror in all ningen, as well as the other Bijuu, had been replaced by one of pure fear as the Kyuubi looked upon the being that stood before it, **"Y-you…"** the Kyuubi's voice trembled as it suddenly jumped back, its eyes trembling in terror as it stared upon the visage of the Eternal Abyssal God.

Shin'en seemed to smirk darkly as the Kyuubi's eyes showed the beasts unrelenting fear, **"Hello…Kyuubi."**

Kyuubi did not waste a single second in its mind, and swiftly turned tail and fled, the fear of the God before it, clearly staining its visage.

Shin'en chuckled ever so slightly, before he simply snapped his fingers.

"**Raaghhh!"** the Kyuubi roared in agony, as its legs snapped and shattered within its body, the bone fragments actually ripping through its flesh as its precious life blood spilled out of the open wounds created by its own body exploding inside of it.

Shin'en simply smirked as he slowly raised his arm, at first, nothing happened. But after a few seconds, a cloud of black dust formed in the center of the palm, swirling about in a torrent…before an explosion of energy erupted from the torrent of dust, condensing into a singular black void.

Pulling the Kyuubi towards it.

The Kyuubi, feeling its imminent demise trying to move its shattered limbs and claw its way from the black void, whimpering as its body was too broken to accomplish even that. Feebly, the Kyuubi tried to grasp at the ground with its jaw, only for its teeth to be dragged through the soul, as the void continued to pull it towards it.

All those presence watched in a horrified awe as they saw the mighty Kyuubi be reduced to a whimpering coyote trying to get out of a trap.

Kyuubi roared and finally managed to move a single claw to slow its progress as it begged, **"Please, spare me! I'll do anything, please don't end me like this!" **

Shin'en's response was a smirk as he twisted his wrist, increasing the strength of the torrent.

Kyuubi roared in agony as the sudden increase in strength ripped a larger hole in its flesh, **"Please, spare me!"**

Finally, Kyuubi's tails reached the black void, and in but in instant, the Kyuubi was ripped to dust as the void consumed it.

Roaring in agony, the beast flailed as it pathetically tried to halt its destruction by any means necessary.

A desperate and futile attempt.

The Kyuubi's tails were completely withered to dust, and soon enough its legs and lower body joined them in the void. The Kyuubi tried desperately to cling to whatever small chance of life it still foolishly thought it retained. Its body which had so recently been reformed was already being destroyed.

As the void consumed up to the beasts chest, it flailed about as its claws dug into the earth, and its arms bled profusely. The blood was also sucked into the void, flowing past the beast like a vile river in the sky.

The Kyuubi's arms were soon separated from the rest of the body as its torso was completely consumed, and the arms were painfully dragged in, reduced to dust.

All that remained was the disembodied head of the Kyuubi as it looked fearfully around.

As the void began to reduce its head to dust, it opened its maw to let loose one last roar of agony…only for it to be silenced in an explosion of black dust, swallowed by the void.

The Kyuubi no Yoko…was finally dead.

The Shinobi present were too shocked for words to describe what they had just seen. The Kyuubi no Yoko, who their Yondaime had failed to kill, being forced to seal the beast within Naruto, had been slain, and in such a manner that made the Kyuubi seem like a feral animal.

They all turned their gaze to Shin'en, awe…and terror…were the emotions felt amongst their ranks.

If this man could destroy Kyuubi so easily…what else could he possibly do?

Shin'en paid them no mind, and simply turned his hand over as he watched the void condense, until it became a marble sized orb, black as stone, swirling ever so gently with a mild red haze if you looked close enough.

Shin'en chuckled as he tossed the orb into the air and with a wave of his hand, made it disappear in a cloud of unholy smoke before everyone's eyes.

Shin'en turned his attention back to Naruto, who was panting heavily as the pain faded from his body.

Shin'en spoke, drawing Naruto's attention to him,** "This is it, Naruto, the advent that will shape the course of the remainder of your existence. Once you accept this…there is no going back."**

Naruto stared up at Shin'en and said clearly, "I don't want to go back." he slowly stood up, "I want my bonds cut, severed, burned and never to be remade. I want them all gone, I will do whatever I must to make this so." he said with a conviction that shocked all present, but pleased only one.

Shin'en's pleased glint shone outward, and he asked, **"Anything you say?"**

…

…

…

Naruto fell to one knee, and bowed his head, "If you take my old bonds from me, take them and remove the chance of them ever reconnecting…then…I will willingly swear my undying loyalty…to you."

Hiruzen heard this statement and he shouted, "Naruto no!"

Naruto paid the Sandaime no mind as he awaited Shin'en's response.

Shin'en looked upon Naruto with calculating eyes, and his smile turned into a grin, **"Hahahahaaa! Wonderful, such conviction, I knew you were the one, I knew you would be perfect!" **his grin turned into a smile as he held up a clawed hand, and reached towards the other gauntlet.

His clawed fingers neatly plucked a single orb from the gauntlet. The gauntlet quickly closed up the location where the orb had been resting, as if it were an open wound.

Shin'en held the orb in the palm of his hand, and looked at Naruto, **"Raise your head, Naruto."**

Naruto did as commanded, and looked into Shin'en's eyes, which were glowing brightly with his essence and power.

Shin'en spoke sternly, his eyes glowed brighter, **"Recite…the oath."** his eyes suddenly dimmed, and the orb sitting in the palm of his hand began to float between his fingertips, and his essence poured within the orb.

Meanwhile, Naruto's eyes suddenly glowed brightly, before dimming back to his cerulean blue color.

On the side, Hiruzen tried to move, tried to say something, anything.

But all he could do was tremble.

Naruto meanwhile, bowed his head…and spoke, "I, Naruto Uzumaki, kneel here before you, God of the Abyss, and ask of you to grant my wish. I offer in return, my willing and undying loyalty, to you, and only you…forevermore."

Shin'en smiled as the orb glowed bright with his energies, **"I accept your price, Naruto Uzumaki…"** his essence wrapping around the orb as it floated off his hand, and hovered downward, floating just in front of Naruto. Shin'en looked upon Naruto as he reached towards the orb with a single index finger, **"…your wish…is granted."** and with a single gentle push of his finger, pushes the orb into Naruto's forehead, where it simply faded into his skin.

Shin'en retracted his hand, placing it behind his back…and watched.

Naruto simply kneeled there, his eyes looking forward, and he blinked but once.

Suddenly, and without warning, that all changed.

"Agghhhh!" With a throw of his head, Naruto leaned back, and let out a guttural scream of agony.

At the same time, an explosion of power erupted from his body, cracking and demolishing the very landscape around him as cracks and waves of soil and stone were thrown about.

The ANBU commander, who had come to the sudden release of the Kyuubi's chakra screamed, "Scatter!" and quickly jumped out of the way of flying debris.

ANBU, Jonin, Chunin, and even Genin jumped out of the way as they tried to avoid being impaled.

One Jonin was too slow as he tried to shove his comrade out of the way, "Get going no-HUURGH!" and suddenly, a spike of stone pierced through his eye, right through his brain.

The Jonin who had been shoved out of the way screamed, "No!" and foolishly reached for them, "Agghh!" only for them to get smashed by a large chunk of debris, flattening them against their ground.

This scene was repeated all across the area, the only one standing tall against the onslaught of sudden power, was the Abyssal God standing not three feet from the powers source, a smirk gracing their features as they watched the events before him unfold.

Suddenly, and without warning, the energy that had been released stopped its thrashing, and was swiftly drawn back towards the source, stabbing into him like a thousand white hot needles, burning their way into his flesh.

As the power he had so recently released charged back into his body, Naruto stood up fully, clenching his entire body as agony unlike any other he had felt in his life exploded throughout his body.

Naruto either did not notice, or did not care, as the energy began to crawl across his skin, burning it down to every last surface of skin. The burnt char of his flesh traveled up his body, covering his legs, abdomen, back, and chest.

As his body burned in agony, he opened his mouth to let loose a silent scream…before it too suffered the same fate.

As the Shinobi were picking themselves up, one amongst them was staring in horror at the scene before her, Kushina Namikaze, her eyes were wide as they strained to stay open. She could not bear to see her child in such a state.

She quickly stood up and shouted, "Release my son now monster!"

Shin'en turned his attention to her, and smirked, allowing a cruel chuckle to escape his lips, **"Son? This is your son…the same child moments ago that you intended to slay upon blessed swords?"** he waved his hand.

One of the swords, still impaled in the ground suddenly ripped itself out and shot towards Kushina.

Kushina sneered at Shin'en, "How dare yo-" she stopped in her tracks as suddenly, she felt cold steel press against her throat. Glancing to the side, her eyes widened as she saw one of the swords…her sword…pressed against her throat, with nobody wielding it. It was just…floating there.

Shin'en continued to chuckle, **"The same child, that you intended to reduce to ashes with the **_**'cleansing fires'**_**…of your self righteous hate?!" **he flicked his wrist as his chuckling turned into laughter.

The blade pressed against Kushina's throat began to disintegrate, began to turn to dust, until its physical form had been purged from existence.

Kushina's eyes were wide with fear and despair as she looked at Shin'en, who had easily calmed himself from his laughter.

Shin'en smirked at her, **"Oh no, Kushina…"**

Kushina's eyes widened, how did this man know her name?

"…**you had your chance to be his mother, many moons ago…and you threw it away without a second thought…"**

Meanwhile, as Shin'en speaks, the surface of Naruto's charred skin began to crack, arcing across the surface of the broken flesh, an unearthly, an unnatural glow erupting from behind each crack, as the char across his eyes, mouth, and nostrils swiftly disintegrated, and the same glow erupted forth like a roaring fire.

Kushina stared in horror at what she was seeing, while Shin'en seemed to give a pleased grin as he turned towards Kushina, **"And now…"**

The charred skin on Naruto's body began to fall off in large chunks, crashing to the ground, turning into dust.

"**Your son…"**

The glowing energies beneath the charred flesh intensified, his eyes, mouth, and nostrils like a tiny of unholy essence as the charred skin fell off again and again, lighting up the empty night.

Shin'en roared with a pleased grin, **"Is mine!"**

'BOOM' an explosion erupted forth from Naruto, a storm of light and his disintegrated flesh exploding outward.

"Aaaghhh!" Shinobi clutched at their eyes as they were too foolish to look away as the light burned their retinas, as if a fire was set loose inside of their eyes.

Kushina had been smart enough to cover her eyes, no matter how much she did not want to look away.

As quickly as the explosion had come, it had disappeared.

Kushina slowly uncovered her eyes, as did everyone else as they looked to where Naruto was.

Their eyes widened in shock as they saw the figure standing where Naruto had been moments before.

Standing tall, his head bowed, was a figure whose skin was fair, a luminous, but, inhuman white color. This fair complexion wrapped around a physical build unlike anything ever conceived by mortals. His abdominal muscles were firm, gently pressing out, while the muscles on his chest were neither too robust, nor too small. His shoulders were wide, accentuating his impressive appearance. His face was round, but the soft child-like parts of the face were nowhere to be found, replaced by sharp and regal edges that screamed 'regal' in every possible manner. His eyes, instead of the cerulean blue of Naruto, were a shade of blue that seemed like an endless void just from staring into them, whilst his pupils were the darkest and deepest onyx any mortal had ever seen, and unlike anything mortals could hope to recreate. Finally, his hair, no trace of the golden blond locks of Naruto Uzumaki, instead, his hair was white as snow, with black highlights framing the edges of his long hair, which retained a certain spiky form, with two jaw length bangs trailing along his jawline.

Most noticeably, the man was nude, his decency only being held by a cloud of dark and unnatural energies that smoked about his body, covering his lower body.

The energies of the abyss.

But none of this compared to the one thing that drew the attention of all present.

His right arm…

While at first, both arms were the same, each one sporting biceps with such obvious strength within them, that even the strongest Shinobi felt weak simply by looking upon them…that is where the similarities ended. Where his left arm was strong and firm, the hand being perfectly formed, while each finger ended with a slight hook in each nail.

The right arm was inhuman in every way.

Starting at the elbow, a black armor, its form a mixture or organic and inorganic form, wrapped around his arm. Through the back of the unholy looking appendage, a glow of energies, a tone of color that could only be described as being red like liquid fire, glowed out from a vein-like crack in the armor, which neatly arced off to the sides at even intervals. In the center of the glowing vein, sat a single circular sphere which floated in the liquid fire of the arm, a single burning red slit down the middle of it. The vein continued up to the back of the hand, where it suddenly stopped, the black armor wrapping around the fingers, but ceasing just before it reached the middle of each digit, instead of black armor, the liquid fire in his very arm took a solid shape, and each finger was replaced with a dastardly claw.

The man fell to his knees, his breathing heavy as the energies of the abyss snaked across his body.

Shin'en seemed to give a knowing smile, and he spoke, **"Arise Naruto…Champion of the Abyss…"**

The eyes of all present widened in shock as they looked upon the man who had appeared in Naruto's place.

That was Naruto?

Naruto slowly looked up, and after getting into a kneeling position, he pushed himself up as commanded, and bowed his head before Shin'en…

His God…

His master…

"I live to serve you, Lord Shin'en."

* * *

><p>Sigh...ok, we are going to say this once and clearly...<p>

Hakkyou no Yami and I worked tirelessly through computer issues, work schedules, amongst other things to bring out this chapter. If it were not for computer issues, this chapter would have been done weeks ago, if it were not for work schedules, even sooner than that, and if it were not for the other things...enough said.

The point is, that despite you anger at us for taking so long for us to update these stories...understand that we have lives that need to be lived, such as working, going to school, and trying to write this story out in a manner that is cohesive and makes sense. Would you prefer that we just throw out any random crap that came into our heads? Of course not, if we just threw random crap it, it would not matter how often we updated, NONE of you would read it. So please, bare with us as we make the stories tolerable to read ok?

As for the cliffhanger...ok, I am almost willing to bet most of the people reading this read the old version of the story, so after reading through the first parts of the story, you knew what was going to happen. To those who did not read the old version, I am sorry if the cliffhanger annoys you, but if we wrote any further than what we did with this chapter, it would soon grow to a hundred pages long. This was the quickest way we could end the chapter without making it longer and producing an unnecessary amount of complaints about the chapters length.

Anyways...please show your support for the afformentioned stories and challenges in the top AN, this will help out other authors in many ways.

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This has been dracohalo117 and Hakkyou no Yami...stay tuned for our next update.


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